NEAR NORTH SIDE — As most Chicago kids prepare for a summer free of textbooks and classrooms, a group of middle schoolers are giving it all up for a six-week summer school program.
And they're actually excited about it.
"My friends are like, 'You go to school during the summer? That makes no sense. Why would you do that?' I say, 'I just love it,'" said Tyshaun Zollicoffer, who travels to Lincoln Park from Garfield Park for High Jump, a nonprofit academic program for students with limited economic means.
The 12-year-old said he's so excited about High Jump that he wakes his parents up early at 7:15 a.m. on the days he has class.
It's the open communication between teachers and students, sophisticated topics of conversation — including the struggles of Chicago's black neighborhoods and the lead poisoning crisis happening around the country — and friendships that make High Jump special, according to Tyshaun.
During the school year, Tyshaun attends Chicago Jesuit Academy, an all-black school in Austin, which he said is far less diverse than High Jump, which attracts students from all over the city.
Founded in 1989, High Jump bills itself as a free two-year enrichment program for seventh- and eighth-graders across Chicago. The sessions last for six weeks during the summer and twice a month on Saturdays from September to April.
Students like Tyshaun are taught math, science, writing, reading and the arts — but at an advanced level.
Latin School of Chicago, 59 W. North Blvd., serves as High Jump's headquarters. High Jump classes are held at partner schools like University of Chicago Lab Schools and Francis W. Parker School — the latter is Tyshaun's high school of choice.
"A big component is exposing them to a building," said Chrissy Lewis, High Jump campus director at Parker. "The partner schools allow us to use their facilities and it opens their eyes to what the building has to offer. It opens up high schools as potential options that maybe wouldn't have been presented before."
Lamar King, 12, is giving up another summer to attend High Jump.
During last year's summer session, Lamar remembers his teacher giving students superhero names. Lamar's was "Quick Silver" because he's fast, he said.
"His enthusiasm and all of our teachers' enthusiasm ... that's where I want to be," Lamar said. "They can be your friend. They can also be your mentor."
Lamar either wants to attend Walter Payton College Prep or Parker when he wraps up at Lindblom Math and Science Academy on the South Side in a year.
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