Horizons for Youth and Whitehawk Week

by Annie Thompson

July 20, 2026

Whitehawk Week is possible because of Peter and Marijane Thornton, who bring their 104-foot ketch Whitehawk to Monroe Harbor each summer for a week of introductory cruises. Their generosity has given many students a day of sailing they might otherwise never have had. This year, the week drew fifty-five sailors from three partner organizations, Horizons for Youth among them.

During her group's turn aboard Whitehawk, Shayla took the helm. She had sailed earlier in the summer, and it showed. "I really like how peaceful it is on the water," she said. "We were telling each other jokes on the boat, and it was such a nice time!"

Shayla is one of fifteen students from Horizons for Youth who sailed with CYCF this summer. Horizons pairs Chicago students with need-based scholarships and one-on-one mentoring from kindergarten through college.

For these students, the week was a fun change of pace, following earlier sessions at 31st Street Harbor and Monroe Community Sailing. Something clicked for Shayla out there: she wanted to learn the name of every sail on the boat.

Zoé M. Weakly, senior manager of academic support services at Horizons for Youth, sees it in her older students, some of whom told her they never thought they would sail. "Many students who we serve who live and grow up in Chicago, right next to the lake, end up never even going in it due to many barriers. Places and things they may have thought were not 'for' them, suddenly are, and it opens doors for them they did not know were possible."