2025 Dream Big Camp Report. Student in safety glasses and rubber gloves examining the strawberry they are about to extract DNA from. Students learning in a computer lab.

2025 Dream Big Career Camp Report

Students exploring careers with top companies and building Disability Confidence.

Why dream big? Student engages with display at Purina Institute.

In the U.S., 1 in 4 people have a disability.

Scientists, welders, bankers, designers…it’s impossible to find a profession that hasn’t been done, and done well, by someone with a disability.

Despite this empowering reality, kids with disabilities are often never asked what they want to be when they grow up. This is just one of the ways their opportunities are narrowed compared to their nondisabled peers.

Dream Big shows young people with disabilities they don’t have to settle for less. During company visits, our students see and talk to disabled professionals excelling in roles at every level. Often it is the first time our students ever had a disabled role model. Every interaction emphasizes a powerful message:

“You matter. You belong. We want you.”

The impact is profound.

In Dream Big students learn their ambitions can be as big as their dreams, and develop the tools to make their dreams a reality.

Meet the 2025 Dream Big Campers

students explored careers over 4 weeks of Camp

ZIP codes across the Metro St. Louis Area represented

27%

of students relied on door-to-door transportation to participate

100%

of Camp tuition funded by scholarships (free for all families!)

Group photo of students and staff at Ameren, including a robot dog.

Industries and companies explored: Ameren • Bayer • BJC • Clayco • Donald Danforth Plant Science Center • Edward Jones • FleishmanHillard • Graphic Design • Mackey Mitchell Architects • Metro | Bi-State Development • MS Lab • Nestlé Purina • SLU Parks Dept. of Aviation Science • St. Louis Community College • St. Louis Science Center • St. Louis Zoo • Wells Fargo • World Wide Technology

24 students are in high school/transition. 8 students are in middle school.

Primary disability type pie chart. 36.4% Autism. 18.2% other health-related. 15.2% orthopedic. 12.1% Deaf and Hard of Hearing. 12.1% emotional. 3% learning. 3% I/DD [intellectual and developmental].

70%

of students at Camp have multiple types of disability.

All student disabilities bar graph. 6 learning disabilities. 1 speech/language disability. 20 disabilities categorized as “other health.” 15 Autism. 7 intellectual or developmental. 11 emotional disabilities. 4 Deaf or Hard of Hearing. 7 orthopedic disabilities. 1 vision disability.

A Day at Camp

Camp Begins

Arrive at Camp’s “home base” on the campus of one of our local college partners.
(This year it’s St. Louis Community College–Forest Park!)

Games and socializing with peers; Set group intentions for the day.

Students can arrive as early as 7:30, dropped off by parents or Camp provided door-to-door transportation

Company Visit

Head to Nestlé Purina via accessible Starkloff vans

Welcome from leadership and tour
Discussion with employees from different departments about their work and the field of pet nutrition
Hands-on experience
- [LAB]: What goes into developing kitty litter?
- [MARKETING]: Evaluating products with focus groups
Purina Incredible Dog Team demonstration (and meet the dogs!)

Students overjoyed while greeting a very friendly dog with long hair and spots.

Securing safe, reliable accessible transportation for our students was a big challenge every year.

Our new vans eliminated this, making each field trip a typical fun and social camp experience for every student!

Lunch and Break

Starkloff’s “Adulting with a Disability” Curriculum

Topics include:

What is Self-Advocacy?
Resources for Academic Success: Your IEP and Accommodations
Disability History

Start developing personal self-advocacy plans to present on Friday.

Wrap Up

Group games and hanging out as students are picked up.

Uno is a favorite!

The Power of Camp

Students are surveyed at the end of Camp. The results put into numbers the transformations we witness: students stepping into their power as confident disabled young people.

The efforts companies put into our visits show students their futures matter. The curriculum we teach helps them develop the tools to be successful now, and as independent adults with disabilities.

A student looks at the wheel of a small plane with an instructor.

I know more about the range of career options available to me.

I feel more welcome in the world as a person with a disability.

I am better prepared to advocate for myself to succeed in school.

I feel more confident in my ability to get the resources I need.

I am more comfortable identifying as a person with a disability to my peers.

Quote: At World Wide Technology we did a very interesting [cyber security] simulator of what a hacker would do and how they would do it. It was very hard, but I eventually got it! Nadya.

What I want to do in the future is be a drone pilot at Ameren. Charles.

Visiting Bayer opened up another possible field of careers that could fit me and I learned a lot. Micheal.

I learned it is ok to have a disability. Dylan.

I learned that I can advocate for myself and not be shy about what I need. Mason.

My idea for the future changed for the better. I learned to be myself. I can’t wait to see what my future holds. Ja’Miah.

Before Camp I hadn’t considered college. Camp helped me understand what college should look like. Now I consider it a possibility for me. I will do awesome things. Maya.

Students playing a group game with a large ball of yarn crisscrossed between them.

s: 1. Students playing a group game with a large ball of yarn crisscrossed between them. 2. A student next to the closing bell at Wells Fargo with ASL sign for I love you.

Thanks to our partners

Dream Big Career Camp could not happen without our amazing corporate partners and donors, who dedicate immense time and effort and financial resources to ensure our students are engaged and inspired every day. Thank you!