Chance the Rapper surprises Chicago students with Google's $1.5M donation

Chance the Rapper has made helping Chicago schools his mission, and instead of waiting for help from lawmakers, he is encouraging companies to fill the void.

On Wednesday, Google did just that.

Chance was a surprise guest for students at Powell Academy in South Shore. The rapper crashed a pep rally with a special announcement.

Chance is teaming up with Google to help bolster computer science education throughout Chicago Public Schools. He also announced a $1.5-million-dollar donation from the tech giant that will certainly help.

“You guys will be able to create jobs, websites, companies, create animation TV shows, movies... Anyone in here want to make movies?” Chance asked CPS students.

For Chance, the mission to help Chicago Public Schools’ kids is personal.

“I went to Jones College Prep for high school. I met a lot of kids who came from all over the city. They was telling me all types of things they were experiencing in grade school that I had never heard of,” he said.

And that is why chance feels so strongly about computer science. Students, while star-struck, agree that computer coding is worth learning.
    
“It made a difference in my life. I think I’ll take some coding classes, talk to my mom about it too,” said 7th grader Laila West.

“I am really interested to see what it's like to be a coder or something because this is a huge inspiration,” said Seth Appleby.

The inspiration for Chance, though, remains his fight for equal spending for schools throughout the city.

“It's my job to put pressure on people who are making these decisions…to make sure you get what you deserve,” he said.