Stay in School Program Celebrates Student Achievement at Year-End Graduation Ceremony
Exelon/ComEd/United Way initiative commemorates tenth year with paid
student internships and college scholarships
CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Students who participated in an innovative afterschool program created
by Exelon, ComEd and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago celebrated a
successful 2015-16 academic year with a graduation ceremony on Saturday,
May 21 at the Lacuna Artist Loft in Chicago. The organizations marked
the close of the program’s tenth year by offering select high school
juniors and seniors paid summer internships and, for the first time,
awarding college scholarships.
Nearly 100 current students and alumni of the program gathered to
celebrate graduating students, observe and evaluate final student
presentations, and commemorate a decade of progress in keeping youth on
the path to academic achievement. Speakers included CBS-2 Chicago
Traffic Reporter, Derrick Young, who also addressed the students at the
program’s kick-off in the fall.
The Stay in School initiative awarded scholarships of $2,500 to one
college bound senior from each of the six partner agencies that support
the program: B.U.I.L.D Inc., Corazon Community Services, Gary Comer
Youth Center, Project: Vision, Young Men’s Educational Network (YMEN)
and Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.). The agencies provide a holistic
suite of programs for students and their families that include tutoring,
social services, leadership and social engagement, skill-building and
parental workshops. The agencies also joined ComEd, Constellation,
Exelon and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago in awarding internships to
exceptional students in the program.
“The students who participated in this year’s Stay in School program
showed immense commitment to their education, and we are proud to
celebrate their achievements today,” said Steve Solomon, vice president
of corporate relations at Exelon. “Exelon and ComEd have been actively
collaborating with United Way of Metropolitan Chicago and other
community-based nonprofits to support students on their journey to
finishing high school and continuing their education.”
“United way knows the impact that social, academic and family support
has on at-risk youth, and each year we see the Stay in School program
succeed in helping students pave the way for bright futures,” said Wendy
DuBoe, President and CEO of United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. “We are
honored to celebrate the students’ graduation following a year of hard
work and dedication, and are excited about their opportunities for
continued academic success.”
Since its inception in 2005, the Stay in School program has served
approximately 23,000 Chicago-area public school students ages 11 and up.
It currently serves students in neighborhoods where dropout rates have
been among the highest in Chicago, including Armour Square/Bridgeport,
Austin, East Garfield Park, Greater Grand Crossing, Humboldt Park, and
North Lawndale, as well as in Cicero, Evanston and Skokie, Ill. Exelon
and ComEd have contributed nearly $3 million to fund the program, and
employee volunteers provided one-on-one mentoring to students throughout
the year.
Students will be working as paid summer interns in the following
positions:
Corazon Community Services (5339 W 25th St., Cicero,
IL 60804): One student from this agency received a summer internship
position with ComEd.
YMEN (1241 S Pulaski Rd., Chicago, IL 60623): Two students from
this agency received internships with Project Vision and Gary Comer
Youth center.
YOU (1027 Sherman Ave #2sw, Evanston, IL, 60202): One student
from this agency was placed in a summer internship at YOU.
Project Vision (2301 S Archer Ave, Chicago IL 60616): Four
students from Project Vision will be interns for United Way of Metro
Chicago, BUILD and The Girl Scouts.
Gary Comer Youth Center (7200 Ingleside Ave, Chicago, IL 60619):
Four students from the agency were placed in summer internships for
United Way of Metro Chicago, Exelon, ComEd, Corazon and YMEN.
About Exelon
Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), now including the Pepco Holdings
utilities, is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with
2015 revenues of approximately $34.5 billion. Headquartered in Chicago,
Exelon does business in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
Exelon is one of the largest competitive U.S. power generators, with
more than 32,700 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the
nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets. The company’s
Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to
approximately 2 million residential, public sector and business
customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100. Exelon’s
six utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to approximately 10
million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois,
Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania through its Atlantic City
Electric, BGE, ComEd, Delmarva Power, PECO and Pepco subsidiaries.
Follow Exelon on Twitter @Exelon.
About ComEd
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon
Corporation (NYSE: EXC), the nation’s leading competitive energy
provider, with approximately 7.8 million customers. ComEd provides
service to approximately 3.8 million customers across northern Illinois,
or 70 percent of the state’s population. For more information visit
ComEd.com, and connect with the company on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
United Way leverages expertise, connections and resources to transform
individual lives and entire neighborhoods. We advance the common good on
both a regional and neighborhood level by focusing on the building
blocks for thriving people and communities: a good education, financial
stability, access to quality health care and ensuring basic needs are
met. United Way is more than three quarters of the way to reaching
significant community-impact goals set for the year 2020 for connecting
200,000 individuals to a primary care physician, helping 50,000
underachieving middle school students enter high school on track for
graduation, and improving financial stability for 100,000 households.
Additional information is available at www.LIVEUNITEDchicago.org.
Contacts
Exelon
Paul Adams
410-470-4167
paul.adams@constellation.com
or
ComEd
Linsey
Godbey
312-394-3500
linsey.godbey@comed.com
or
United
Way of Metropolitan Chicago
Karyn Ruhl
312-906-2291
karyn.ruhl@uw-mc.org
