CareerTek students take part in the Scrubs Summer Academy in June 2024. The academy is one of many offered each summer at Blackhawk through CareerTek.
While many summer camps focus on outdoor adventures like swimming, hiking, or canoeing, CareerTek’s Summer Academies—many offered in partnership with Blackhawk Technical College—provide students with hands-on, career-focused experiences in high-demand fields. These unique camps give middle and high school students the chance to have fun and explore potential career paths.
“They're certainly given opportunities to do things that they wouldn't have the opportunity to do at any other place,” said Susan Day, CareerTek’s Director. “These are experiences that most students don't get until they're actually in a program when they're post-high school.”
The partnership between CareerTek and Blackhawk is a true win-win.
“It’s a win for us because the students are able to get true experiences from the instructors whether it's culinary or in the medical or fire, EMS, HVAC, welding. But then it's a win for Blackhawk because they're able to get students out there that are in middle school and high school that may not have had that opportunity to visit the campus,” Day said.
Funded by a grant from the Hendricks Family Foundation to the Stateline Boys & Girls Club, the Summer Academies are free for participants and open to all students entering grades 6–12. This year, students can choose from 29 different academies, 14 of which are hosted in partnership with Blackhawk this year.
“CareerTek and Blackhawk’s Workforce and Community Development team have partnered on summer camps over the past few years. Blackhawk instructors provide hands-on experiences in a variety of career and technical education programs for the students to explore and learn about,” said Mark Borowicz, Blackhawk’s Director of Workforce and Community Development.
To ensure students get the most out of the Summer Academies, class sizes are intentionally kept small—usually between 12 and 15 participants—to maximize hands-on involvement. Many students arrive unsure of what to expect but quickly become engaged, making new friends and discovering new interests. Whether they’re creating a new dish in Blackhawk’s Culinary Arts kitchen or changing a tire in the Automotive shop, the goal is for students to explore potential career paths—and sometimes to realize what might not be the right fit for them.
“I think kids are sometimes comical,” Day said, “because sometimes we'll start a class, and we're like, ‘So what brings you here today?’ And they'll say, ‘Well, my mom signed me up.’ And you can kind of see the look on their face like I don't want to be here, I don't know what this is all about. But by the end of the day—I would say by an hour into it—they're involved, and they've made new friends, and they're learning about things that they may not have experienced.”
The students may be working in Blackhawk’s nursing simulation lab, Day said, or learning how to weld metal.
“Just giving those experiences so they have a better idea of what they want to do–and it kind of goes the other direction also—an idea of what they don't want to do. So, they may attend something and go, ‘Wow, I had a really good time. I met some new friends. Lunch was great. I don't think I want to do that for a career.’ And that's great, you know? That's a win also. It’s really all about that exploration piece.”
CareerTek launched its Summer Academies in 2017 with just seven offerings, all held at its Beloit facility. A turning point came in 2019 when Melissa Dix, Blackhawk’s IT Web Software Developer Instructor, reached out to learn more. That call led to the first collaborative camp: Tech Girlz, a technology-focused session for middle school girls.
The partnership grew quickly. By 2020, five camps were hosted in partnership with Blackhawk, including Culinary, Python, HVAC, Welding, and Web Programming. The momentum hasn’t stopped since.
“Every year, it got bigger and bigger up until this year. Now, we have 29 academies and about 50% of those are with Blackhawk, so our relationship has grown a lot since 2019!” Day said.
Plan ahead
The 2024 Summer Academies are already full, but students and families should mark their calendars—registration opens April 1 each year. Families can register for up to three academies per student, and a lottery system helps ensure fair access for all.
Students from any district are welcome.
“We have no geographic or socioeconomic limits,” Day said. “We’ve had students from Madison and even Belvidere. If you’re in grades 6–12 and you hear about us, you can sign up.”
More Information: Visit hendrickscareertek.org for a full list of Summer Academies offered by CareerTek and its partners. Blackhawk and CareerTek have also partnered in other ways, including faculty on-site visits, after-school programs during the school year, involvement in the Stateline Manufacturing Alliance and more.
Workforce Partners: Blackhawk Technical College is proud to collaborate with an incredible network of local partners dedicated to strengthening the workforce in Rock and Green counties. A new partner will be spotlighted each month. Read about our partners