San Francisco high school students in the Summer Youth Academic and Employment Program created “road maps” to their future. (PhotoL Michelle Maitre)

Cold hard cash might have been the incentive that originally enticed hundreds of San Francisco high school students to give up part of their summer vacation for an academic tutoring and career program.

But it wasn’t long before the things they were doing and learning overshadowed the stipend.

“I heard ‘money’ and I was like, ‘Oh fo’ sho’ I’m gonna be there,’” joked 17-year-old Rome Jones, a junior at George Washington High School and a participant in the Summer Youth Academic and Employment Program. “(But) the people here reminded me that even though I had messed up in school, I had a chance to fix it.”

“I just really appreciate what they did for me,” he continued, “because I was starting to lose a little faith in myself.”

Read the full story on EdSource California.