Hundreds of young Chicagoans, along with their parents and teachers, converged at Jones College Prep on Saturday for the second annual Destination: Chicago-Winter Break. Presented by Chicago City of Learning (CCOL) and Hive Chicago Learning Network, the daylong Maker Party featured activity stations and pop-up workshops in photography, fashion, engineering, architecture, digital media, music, computer science, choreography, journalism, forensics, and more.

“As youth explore what excites them at Destination: Chicago, they find new passions, learn skills and earn digital badges that can propel them along a pathway toward a career,” said Dr. Nichole Pinkard of Digital Youth Network at DePaul University, which leads CCOL in Chicago.

Destination: Chicago was also a day of awards for many attendees. Leaders from CCOL’s first corporate sponsor Best Buy, were on hand to announce the individual and school winners of the Best Buy Challenge. Taking home the Chicago Public Schools Awards for the schools that enrolled the most students in CCOL were Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences and Mark Sheridan Elementary Math and Science Academy. As their prize, each school will get a full day’s visit with Best Buy’s Geek Squad – during which students will learn the latest in digital printing, video production, sound technology and more. Learn more at ChicagoCityofLearning.org.

Photo Credit: Jim Sandherr, Digital Youth Network