Nationwide Simon Youth Foundation teachers attend Annual Conference

More than 40 educators and administrators from the 23 Simon Youth Academies in 13 states are attending the Simon Youth Foundation Annual Conference, Connections of Impact, in Schaumburg, Ill., which started with a dinner event Sunday evening, Oct. 9, and runs through the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 12.

J. Michael Durnil addresses the conference

The SYF Annual Conference is being hosted in conjunction with the 23rd Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference.

"So much of what makes Simon Youth Foundation great is the innovative teaching strategies and programs that our Simon Youth Academy teachers implement," says J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., the President and CEO of Simon Youth Foundation. "It is important to bring our teachers together once a year so that they can share their best practices with each other at the SYF Annual Conference while also attending programs offered by the National Dropout Prevention Network."

The SYF Annual Conference kickoff event, the First Connections Dinner, featured a gift exchange. Academy teachers brought small gifts that had significance to their local communities or schools. They shared success stories from their academies and expectations for the conference.

Durnil also recognized the Simon Youth Academy at Northgate Mall in Seattle, Wash., for 10 years of service to its community in partnership with SYF. The Simon Youth Academy network stretches from Seattle to Boston, Mass., and from Orlando, Fla., to Youngstown, Ohio, to El Paso, Texas.