We’ve blogged many times about our wonderful Simon Youth Foundation partners at the nationwide Simon malls and centers that are home to our Simon Youth Academies – see here, here, and here for examples.
At Westminster Mall, home to one of our two California SimonYouth Academies, the mall management team has partnered with the Academy’s administrator and teaching staff to identify and honor deserving students with quarterly Mall Awards. To really make the awards special, the plaques are framed and presented during semi-formal ceremonies hosted inside one of the school’s classrooms.
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| Herzog, left, with the teaching team and Halbach, right, at the Mall Awards ceremony |
“The awards are very meaningful for our students, because it shows them that people are pulling for them and want to celebrate their successes,” says Dennis Herzog, the administrator at the Academy. “That kind of affirmation is important to our students, many of whom are overcoming great personal struggles to pursue their education at the Academy.”
In a slight twist for the awards presentation held in February, 2012, Herzog secretly worked with Westminster Mall Manager, Mark Halbach, and his team to honor the Academy’s teaching staff.
“Our teaching team is a group of remarkable people who come to work everyday with the goal of making our students’ lives better through education and personal development,” Herzog says. “I was happy to surprise them with the Mall Awards, and I appreciate Mark and his team for taking the time to honor our teachers.”
While he only asked that his teaching team be honored, the mall team also created an award for Herzog.
“It was a pleasure to honor the teachers at the Academy,” Halbach says. “Of course, we had to present Dennis with a plaque, too, for all his hard work on the students’ behalf.”
There certainly is strength in numbers, and it’s great to see the union of our teachers and the mall team significantly enhancing the experience for our students.
The Simon Youth Academy at Westminster Mall operates in partnership between SYF and Huntington Beach Union High School District.
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