Honors piling up for Simon Youth Foundation teachers and students in Seattle

Our Simon Youth Academy at Northgate Mall in Seattle, Wash., is on a streak of success that one could argue is the academic equivalent of Linsanity, a term recently coined to describe the unprecedented success of the National Basketball Association’s newest superstar Jeremy Lin, a point guard for the New York Knicks.

The Academy earned
Special Recognition for Improvement

The Academy’s streak started in late 2011 when Simon Youth Foundation named the school’s lead teacher, Beth Brunton, its National Teacher of the Year during the Foundation’s national teacher conference. The award included a $1,000 stipend for Brunton to spend on classroom enhancements.

The latest accolades for the school, which operates in partnership between SYF and Seattle Public Schools, have come in the first few weeks of February, 2012.

First, the Academy was included on the list of winners when the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education announced its 2011 Washington Achievement Awards on Feb. 7. Just 21 Seattle-area schools were named Achievement Award winners. The Academy at Northgate Mall was honored with Special Recognition for Improvement for student performance.

Dorn poses with a welcome sign
made by students

On the heels of earning its state award, Brunton and the school’s teaching team along with students and the management team at Northgate Mall, which supports the school with fundraising activities and much more throughout the year, welcomed Washington’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Randy Dorn, for a visit.

On Feb. 16, Dorn toured the school and learned about its success in keeping at-risk youth in school through graduation day.

“Our non-traditional model with our location in the mall really sets our program apart, and we were honored to learn about the Superintendent’s interest in our success and to have the opportunity to host him at the school,” Brunton says.

At this pace, it is hard to predict what will be next for the Simon Youth Academy at Northgate Mall, but we know that whichever kind of honor it might be it will be well-deserved.