SMASH Academy is a FREE STEM-intensive and college prep program empowering underrepresented students to thrive in STEM careers and impact change in their communities. SMASH Scholars attend our signature SMASH Academy for three summers, beginning the summer after 9th grade.

While SMASH has traditionally been a residential program, we will be hosting 2022 SMASH Academy through a hybrid model for the safety of all staff and scholars.

This program is only available for current 9th-grade students.

Applications are due by March 1, 2022. Apply Here!

Questions on this program? Feel free to email the SMASH Illinois Site Director, Paige Minett at paige.minett@smash.org.

Spend two virtual weeks discovering your interests in STEM-based careers through virtual lab tours, lectures, and mini science demonstrations in the food, human, and environmental science fields, conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

These programs are available to current 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students.

Discovering STEM in ACES Program

Students work together in teams based on their area of interests over two weeks of lectures, hands-on activities and demonstrations. Students are assigned to a related academic area and each team engages in STEM related learning activities designed to help them understand how that program area within the food, agriculture, human, and environmental systems are connected to their goals. The program exposes students to some real-world issues through engagement with ACES Alumni and business leaders.

Applications are not yet open for 2022.

USDA Ag Discovery Program

Note: The application for 2022 will open in December 2021.

Learn how the United States Department of Agriculture protects our food security by participating in science based demonstration activities with a focus on veterinary medicine, wildlife management, and bio-security. This experience is conducted in partnership with the Animal , Plant Health Inspection Services (APHIS).

Applications will be available in December 2021. AgDiscovery 2022 Flyer!

Questions about either of these programs? Feel free to email Dr. Jesse Thompson, jthomps5@illinois.edu or Diana Rodriguez, drodrgz1@illinois.edu.

We believe in the potential in youth as leaders of today and tomorrow. Our mission is to empower and inspire youth from different communities to become leaders for social change together. Our Youth Empowerment Programs provide high school and college-aged youth the opportunity to gain critical thinking skills and leadership skills outside of an academic setting through education, service, and interpersonal development. Here are three programs available:

Fighting Youth Shouting for Humanity (FYSH)

FYSH is HANA Center's racial and social justice youth leadership council. We make our voices heard by developing and leading campaigns, mobilizing young people to take collective action, educating legislatures and holding them accountable, and sharing experiences and knowledge to fight and shout out for our collective humanity. FYSH's past and current campaigns include Defending DACA, Decolonize CPS!, Ending Gang Database, and Police Free Schools.

Gender Justice

Young women created Womxn That Fight (WTF) to collectively process experience of gender-related trauma and to empower each other through vulnerability and education. Committed Against Patriarchy (CAP) was created because of young men's demand for their own space to work through the violence of patriarchy and reduce the harm they and their communities may conduct. Both groups feature workshops that dive into topics like gender-based violence, histories of different social justice movements and identity. Regular mentorship with youth organizers is included in this program!

#DrummingUpPower: After School Matters Program

Youth use various art forms including movement, poetry, and pungmul (Korean traditional drumming) to explore how story-telling and the fight for justice is inextricably linked. Students are invited to explore their intersectional identities and the issues that matter most to them. By the end of the program, young leaders will realize that we can use our drums and arts to fight for human rights with "HANAsori" or "one sound" in Korean.

Sign up here for these amazing programs!

Questions on this program? Contact Ysabel Ojoylan at yojoylan@hanacenter.org.