IIT Boeing Scholars Katherine (Katie) Gohres and Andrew Kelo will present about their Leadership Grant Project* at the upcoming TEDxWindyCity Conference.

In summer 2011, Katie and Andrew led a team of fellow scholars in creating ROOTS (Rising Over Obstacles Through STEM), an after school club run completely by high school students that exposes middle schoolers to engineering fields through fun, hands-on projects. Now in their second year of programming, ROOTS is established in four schools and growing fast. Of their work on ROOTS, these outstanding co-founders say: “Inspiring and empowering our future leaders is necessary to creating a better future for everyone, and that is why this is an idea worth spreading.”

Katie and Andrew are currently seniors at Walter Payton College Prep, a Chicago Public School.

*During the summer, Scholars collaborate in teams to propose Leadership Grant Projects (LGPs) of their own design to be implemented over the course of the next 10 months (July-April). A capstone of sorts, LGPs require Scholars to take a proactive, structured approach to identifying and addressing real problems in the real world. Guided by Project Mentors (adult professionals), Scholars are empowered to promote positive change and create opportunities in their communities through LGPs.