Close to 200,000 teens call Chicago their home. These teens are at the core of everything After School Matters does.

Teens have a lot of choices to make throughout the day.

These choices include what to do with their time once the school day is done, or even whether to go to school in the first place. The choices each teen makes throughout the day determines what type of person they will become – what kind of student, friend, family member, neighbor – and what role they will play in the future of this city and our society. That’s a lot of responsibility on top of the many challenges our teens face every day.

Assata was one of those teens.

Assata always had a passion and talent for art, but it wasn’t until she participated in the Advanced Drawing and Painting program through After School Matters that she learned how to turn that passion into activism. Now, as a recent alumna of After School Matters, Assata attends the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on a full-ride scholarship and is continuing to use her artwork as her voice as an activist. Watch the above video to hear Assata’s story.

You can find your future with After School Matters, too.