Simon Youth Scholarship winners honored at Simon Malls nationwide

With the announcement of $1.15 million in Simon Youth Scholarships being awarded to 260 deserving college-bound students throughout the country, ceremonies honoring the scholarship recipients are being hosted from coast to coast. Remember, you can view a list of the 2011 Simon Youth Scholarship winners at the SYF website.

The SYF staff was proud to attend the most recent scholarship presentation ceremony on Wednesday, June 29, inside the Indianapolis Artsgarden at Circle Centre, which is just a block away from the SYF home office. The event honored 11 scholarship winners from the Indianapolis, Ind., area and was hosted by Indianapolis-area Simon Malls.



Nationwide, Simon properties have been hosting similar ceremonies in recent weeks. Simon Youth Foundation partners with Simon Property Group to award a scholarship to at least one student in every community that is home to a Simon property.

Local newspapers have been covering the scholarship ceremonies. In two examples from the state of Florida, the Ocala Star Banner in Florida featured a photo of that community's Simon Youth Scholarship winner, and the Boca Raton Tribune also reported on Simon Youth Foundation's impact.

In addition to the slideshow from the Indianapolis-area scholarship presentation ceremony included with this post, a number of Simon Malls are tagging their event photos to our Simon Youth Foundation Facebook page wall. So head over and check those out, too!

Response to scholarships shows Simon Youth Foundation mission matters

There are days when you just know that you are doing the right thing; days that reaffirm your hard work is producing the desired impact. We've had those kinds of days recently at Simon Youth Foundation after announcing that Simon Youth Scholarships valued at more than $1.15 million were awarded to 260 nationwide college-bound students in 2011, including many who graduated our Simon Youth Academies. 

Our scholarship recipients were notified by personal letter of their awards in late May, and in the weeks that have followed, more than 150 thank-you letters and cards, many hand-written, have been delivered to our office. The notes range in length and style but are consistent in tone, reflecting a collective hope for a brighter future because the scholarships have eased the financial burden that comes with attending a 2- or 4-year college.

“SYF has already opened up a great many doors for me, and now it has opened another. Before I received this award, I was not going to be able to afford to attend a university, but I will be able to attend Wichita State University where I will study aerospace engineering.”

- Logan Hobson, Wichita, Kan., graduate of a Simon Youth Academy

“I know that without this scholarship going to college would not be a choice for me. I am incredibly thankful for your generosity. I am pleased that thoughtful organizations like yours exist, making the future of college students manageable.”

- Patricia Castro, San Bernardino, Calif.  

“This opportunity will help me significantly as I pursue the life and aspirations that I intend to fulfill. This is an event that has forever changed my life for the better and that will not go to waste or ill use.”

- Cole Wills, Media, Pa., graduate of a Simon Youth Academy 

“The Simon Youth Foundation has given me the chance to become the nurse I want to be.”

- Abrahim Elgindy, Jersey City, N.J.

“It is truly an honor that you believed in me enough to assist me in continuing my education. I am very grateful and will continue to work hard. Your generosity will not be in vain.”

- Danielle Johnson, Palmyra, Va.

“These are the things that allow us and encourage us to go forward in fulfilling our dreams and walking the path of bettering ourselves through education. Simon Youth Foundation is helping me find the tools necessary so that I can have an education.”

- Allen Acevedo, Carolina, Puerto Rico

“The economy’s troubles have created problems for families trying to pay for college, and many foundations have ceased to offer scholarships. I, along with students across the nation, am very grateful to Simon Youth Foundation for helping fund our futures.” 

- Kerri Walker, Brandon, Miss.

Simon Youth Foundation awards more than $1 million to college-bound students

The Simon Youth Scholarships program, an initiative of Simon Youth Foundation, has announced $1.15 million in awards to benefit more than 260 nationwide recent high school graduates, many of whom will be first-generation college students when they attend the 2- or 4-year institution of their choice this fall. A list of the 2011 Simon Youth Scholarship winners is available online for viewing or download.

“The mission of Simon Youth Foundation is to ignite hope in students through education,” says J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., the foundation’s President and CEO. “Our scholarship awards help us meet this goal by removing some of the financial obstacles that would otherwise have prevented post-secondary education opportunities for our recipients."

Simon Youth Foundation, or SYF, is a national 501(c)(3) public charity that supports 24 Simon Youth Academies, which are alternative schools that serve youth who are at risk of dropping out of high school, in 14 states.

SYF’s second major mission initiative is the Simon Youth Scholarships program, which has awarded more than $9.6 million to more than 3,200 students since 2000. The scholarship program’s 2011 recipients received either one-time or renewable awards that ranged in value from $1,400 to $28,000.  

“Students from all walks of life have the potential to do great things, some just need an extra push to begin believing that they can go anywhere their dreams lead them,” Durnil says.

Many Simon Youth Scholarships are awarded in partnership with Simon Property Group malls, outlets and centers, and scholarships are granted to students in any community that is home to an SPG property, including some who also are graduates of a Simon Youth Academy. Awards are granted based on criteria that include financial need, academic performance and an applicant family’s education history.

“I am so excited to start college. I never thought I could go this far, but here I am, starting college,” Simon Youth Scholarship recipient Olga Courtney, of Youngstown, Ohio, wrote to the SYF Board of Directors and staff. “Words cannot explain how thankful I am.”

“Because the economy has had difficulties lately, many foundations have ceased to offer scholarships,” Simon Youth Scholarship winner Kerri Walker, of Brandon, Miss., wrote in a letter of thanks to SYF. “I, along with students across the nation, am very grateful for the Simon Youth Foundation and similar organizations that help fund our futures.” 

Durnil says 2011 award winners will be attending a broad range of post-secondary institutions that include some of the country’s top colleges, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, Emory University, New York University and the Berklee College of Music. They’ll be majoring in biomedical engineering, neurobiology, biochemistry and computer science.

 

Simon Youth Foundation donors pop into action

People often ask exactly who or what the Simon in Simon Youth Foundation stands for, and we are proud to answer that it is a reference to the employees of Simon Property Group, who are some of our most fervent supporters and donors. SPG team members showed it again Friday, June 17, the date of the most recent SYF Jean for Teens fundraiser at the corporate headquarters building in Indianapolis, Ind.



Supporters paid $5 to wear jeans into the office, and in a first for a Jeans for Teens day, SYF added a special Balloon Pop contest to the day's celebrations. For an additional $3 donation, SPG employees were entered into a raffle for a chance to pop one of 60 balloons. Each balloon contained a number that corresponded to one of 60 prizes.

In all, the event completely popped its estimated revenue amount, bringing in an amazing $2,640 to benefit SYF initiatives, like the Pathways to Pharmacy program that SYF sponsors in partnership with CVS/pharmacy to help at-risk students earn valuable summer internships.

SYF Board of Directors member Susan Massela attended the Balloon Pop, encouraging participants and making a donation of her own to SYF. Haagen-Dazs from the Circle Centre Mall also was on hand to serve sample-size cups of ice cream to balloon poppers and their supporters.

Simon Youth Foundation and CVS/pharmacy partnership is prescription for student success

The 2011 Indianapolis area  CVS Pathways to Pharmacy
students from SYF

In an economy that has left many high school students and recent graduates without a summer job, 11 Simon Youth Foundation students will be working in their local CVS/pharmacy store for the next six weeks after being selected to the sixth annual CVS Pathways to Pharmacy program, which is coordinated in partnership with SYF.

A program kick-off event was hosted on Wednesday, June 15, at the CVS Regional Distribution Center in Indianapolis, Ind.

“CVS Pathways to Pharmacy places current students and recent graduates from our nationwide Simon Youth Academies in local CVS pharmacies, where they work six-week internships,” says Julie Carriere, the coordinator of education services at SYF. “At the end of the internship, SYF awards a $1,000 stipend to each of the students.”

As interns, SYF students will primarily work as pharmacy technicians, interacting directly with CVS customers while filling their prescriptions.

Carriere says that nationwide 25 SYF students have been selected to participate in the program, including the 11 from the Indianapolis area. She says the partnership with CVS fills a key component of the SYF mission.

“We are not in the business of just cranking out academy graduates,” Carriere says. “Our mission is to connect our students with valuable personal and professional development opportunities, and many of the SYF students who have worked as Pathways interns have gone on to successful careers with CVS.”

Ron Snow of CVS addresses the
Pathway Pharmacy students from SYF

Ron Snow, R.Ph., manager of professional and college relations for CVS/pharmacy, says the partnership with SYF helps his company provide a valuable service to at-risk students in the community, and it gives the company access to well-performing workers.

“Based on their experiences in Simon Youth Academies, SYF students are committed to academic and personal achievement, and that work ethic benefits our stores," Snow says. "Many of the students have been valuable contributors to the success of their local CVS pharmacies,”

Carriere says that whether a student’s long-term goal is a career with CVS or in another field the Pathways to Pharmacy experience builds valuable and lasting skills.

“Our SYF partnerships and the programs they sustain are developing not only great students but great people, who understand what it is to work hard and serve their communities” Carriere says. “This is our commitment to the students we serve at SYF.”

NOTE: The slideshow above contains images from the Pathway to Pharmacy kickoff event, including shots near the end that show students learning for the first time the CVS Pharmacy locations where they will intern.

Simon Youth Foundation students have graduation in the bag with support from New Jersey mall shoppers

Shopping bags are a convenient way of carrying purchases from store to home, but in Jersey City, N.J., merchandise bags sold to shoppers at Newport Centre, a Simon Malls property, have carried Simon Youth Foundation high school seniors to their graduation day.

A Newport Centre customer poses for a photo
after  making a Simon shopping bag purchase

The blue bags with the Simon logo are sold at the Newport Centre guest-services desk for $1. In 2010, Newport Center sold nearly 1,300 of its Simon shopping bags. Hundreds more have already been sold this year, and every penny of those bag sales went to SYF.

Our SYF education-services team estimates that it takes $1,000 to support one Simon Youth Academy student through his or her graduation day. In this context, the shoppers at Newport Centre, through their support of the shopping bag sales program, have made sure that over the last year two students didn't fall through the cracks to become drop-out statistics, students like Deneal Yazzie, a homeless senior student at our Simon Youth Academy in Phoenix, Ariz., and Olga Courtney, a recent graduate from our Simon Youth Academy in Youngstown, Ohio.

Newport Centre's Director of Mall Marketing and Business Development may put it best when she describes the bag-sale fundraiser.

"Every dollar counts, and it makes a difference if we can touch the life of just one student," Jill Daniel says. "Newport Centre is proud of our customers and our community for buying Simon shopping bags to support at-risk youth."

The Simon shopping bag sales are ongoing at Newport Centre and many other Simon Malls nationwide.

Russian immigrant finds hope through Simon Youth Foundation and earns her high school diploma

Simon Youth Foundation is celebrating 1,000 graduates in its Class of 2011, and nearly all of them have overcome extraordinary personal circumstances to earn their diplomas.

One of their stories was featured by two television stations in Youngstown, Ohio. Channel 27 WKBN, the CBS News affiliate, and Channel 33 WYTV, the ABC News affiliate, both featured graduate Olga Courtney in their June 3 coverage of the graduation ceremony for the Simon Youth Mahoning County Academy at Southern Park Mall.

Olga Courtney is pictured left with another
Simon Youth Foundation graduate
and scholarship winner, Brittany Hoop

Courtney was raised in an orphanage in Russia before migrating to the United States when she was seven-years-old. She spoke no English when her adoptive parents brought her to her new home. 

In high school, Courtney became pregnant, and her path to graduation became uncertain. Still, the young mother understood the importance of education and what it would mean for her young family's future.

Helped by the stability provided by her current foster parents, Courtney and her academy teachers in September, 2010, set to the task of completing the credits she needed to earn her high school diploma .

"We point towards this day (graduation day) from the time they come here. Whether it's two years or six months, today is the day we work towards," Simon Youth Mahoning County Academy principal Brad Justice told WKBN in his interview with the station the night it covered the Simon Youth Foundation graduation ceremony.

Courtney also is quoted in the station's report, saying that she was "pretty proud," and as if earning her diploma was not enough, her classroom performance helped Courtney earn a Simon Youth Scholarships that is valued at up to $28,000. The money will help cover her costs to attend Kent State University: Salem in the fall of 2011.

"Simon Youth Foundation believes that high school graduation should be a beginning and not an end for our academy students," says J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., the foundation's President and CEO. "That is why I am so proud that our Simon Youth Scholarships program has been able to award more than $1.15 million in scholarships in 2011, which has helped remove the financial obstacles that would otherwise have prevented post-secondary education opportunities for 260 recipients nationwide."

Cleveland's WKYC reports on Simon Youth Foundation graduation event

In a case of we couldn't have said it any better ourselves, Jennifer Lindgren, a reporter for WKYC, the NBC News affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio, provided coverage of the graduation ceremony on June 2, 2011, for the Simon Youth North Coast Academy at Richmond Town Square Sears. The story illustrates well the Simon Youth Foundation mission in action.

Much of the piece focuses on Raychel Griffin, a single mother, who was able to balance school and motherhood and graduate high school on-time thanks to the unique learning opportunity provided by her Simon Youth Academy. Lindgren's report quotes Griffin, who was one of four students to speak at the graduation ceremony, as saying "I feel like I can do anything now." That sounds like hope ignited!

You can read the WKYC report on Simon Youth Foundation and the Simon Youth North Coast Academy at the news station's websites.

A second chance for drink cans helps Simon Youth Foundation give a second chance to at-risk students

Shoppers at the Briarwood Mall, a Simon Property Group mall, in Ann Arbor, Mich., are turning their trash into opportunities for at-risk students who are served by Simon Youth Foundation.

In late May, the mall started a recycling campaign, opening a center inside one of its vacant storefronts. Located next to Zales: The Diamond Store, the recycling center is decorated with a large mural that explains how all proceeds from the carbonated-drink cans and bottles dropped off at the site will benefit SYF and the local Humane Society of Huron Valley. Mall customers simply use slots cut into the mural to drop of their recyclables.

Briarwood Mall Marketing Director Denise Murray says the mall sells nearly 3,000 cases of carbonated drinks each year, and recycling all of those cans and bottles could generate more than $6,000 a year for SYF and the Humane Society (proceeds would be split with 30% of revenue donated to SYF).

While Murray says the intention of the program is not for Ann Arbor residents to bring their recycable bottles from home to the mall, but the practice is not discouraged either. She says a recent news report on AnnArbor.com about the recycling program has already led to some residents bringing items from home to the mall for recycling.

The mall has posted stickers on all of its trash cans that encourage customers to take their bottles to the recycling center and turn their trash into treasure for SYF and its programs that ignite hope in at-risk students that they can earn their high school diplomas.

Simon Youth Foundation bowled over by support of NFL's San Francisco 49ers

Photo courtesy of 49ers.com

Former greats, current coaches and staff from the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers traded in their cleats and the pigskin for multi-colored shoes and a bowling ball on May 27, 2011, at a Bowl for Youth event hosted by the Sea Bowl in Pacifica, Calif.

The 49ers Foundation hosted the event to benefit its programs, Simon Youth Foundation and Bayview Hunters Point YMCA. All the organizations serve at-risk youth through alternative education and personal development programs. More than 250 people hit the alley, rolling a few games and making bids on silent auction items.

Both the 49ers news site and the local community blog, Pacifica Patch, covered the event. Pacifica Patch posted a video that includes an interview with 49ers Super Bowl champion Dwight Clark as well as a series of pictures. You also can read about the 49ers support of Simon Youth Foundation at the team's website, and the article includes a full list of the event's great sponsors. There's also the 49ers video below.

Simon Youth Foundation honors graduates in Texas, Indiana

The Simon Youth Judson Learning Academy at Rolling Oaks Mall celebrated its latest graduating class in a one-hour ceremony on May 26, 2011. SYF President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., gave the ceremony's keynote address. More than 60 at-risk students earned their diploma at the school in San Antonio, Texas, which was the first Simon Youth Academy to open its doors more than 13 years ago. You can see more event photos by visiting the blog of our local partner in education, Judson Independent School District.



Some 1,170 miles from San Antonio, another set of SYF graduates were honored on May 31 at a recognition breakfast. The Simon Youth Academy at Edinburgh Premium Outlets guided 22 students to their high school diploma, igniting hope that the future can be bright after graduating. Included in the photo slideshow below is a picture of one of two Simon Youth Scholarship winners from the academy. Graduate Brittany Blair is photographed with her scholarship certificate as presented by SYF President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D.