Simon Youth Foundation grants help at-risk students see their collegiate potential

Often, life experiences and what is taken from them are more valuable to learning than any lessons provided in a classroom. This is why a component of the Simon Youth Foundation mission emphasizes opportunities for students to build life-skills and explore career paths.

In the video below, we introduce you SYF students who successfully completed the 2012 Summer Camp at the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing on the university's Bloomington, Ind., campus. Zeb Davis and Joshua Kerney, who appear in the video, were joined at the week-long camp by Ryan Castle and Cameron Smith.

All of the students were at-risk for dropping out of high school when they arrived at their Simon Youth Academies in Florida and Massachusetts. After their camp experiences, the students are energized to not only finish high school but pursue enrollment at the college of their choice.

Simon Youth Foundation and corporate partner CVS put students on pathway to success

SimonYouth Foundation student Chasney Johnson was nearly speechless when it came around to her turn to speak.

 

The few words she was able to utter communicated well the significance of the moment.

“I wanted this opportunity so bad – I just had to have it,” Johnson excitedly explained to the group of about 45 in attendance.

SYF students participating in CVS Pathways to Pharmacy

Johnson is one of nine Indianapolis, Ind., students selected by SYF and CVS/pharmacyfor their joint summer internship program, Pathways to Pharmacy. She spoke at a dinner hosted Wednesday, June 13, to kick off the 2012 program in the Circle City.

“After a rigorous application and interview process, selected students work internships at their local CVS pharmacy location that expose them to every element of pharmacy operations,” says Julie Carriere, the coordinator of education services at SYF.

As a part of the program, participants earn a State of Indiana Pharmacist Technician license, and SYF provides a $1,000 stipend to each student who successfully completes the six-week program.

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

“The SYF mission is about much more than helping students earn a high school diploma,” Carriere says. “We leverage our partnerships to give our students access to personal and professional development opportunities that can change lives, and we are proud that CVS shares in this effort.”

“We understand what many SYF students have been through, and it is clear that these are dedicated students who want to be successful,” says Diana Poledna, the CVS/pharmacy Intern Coordinator for Central Indiana. “I am excited for them and for my company, because this is a great opportunity for everyone involved.”

Since 2007, 93 students from Simon Youth Academies in seven states have participated in Pathways to Pharmacy and its sister program, Pathways to Logistics, which places SYF students in positions at CVS distribution centers. More than 10 have maintained long-term employment with CVS after completing their internships.

New England media reports: Simon Youth Foundation mall schools matter

In two recent reports from news outlets based in the Boston, Mass., area, Simon Youth Foundation students, educators and partners all agree: Simon Youth Academies provide a crucial alternative to the traditional classroom that ignites hope and fosters success in at-risk youth.

In the first report, David McKay Wilson, writing for the May/June 2012 edition of the Harvard Education Letter, a publication of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, interviewed SYF educators and students on both coasts as well as from the Midwest.

McKay quotes James Wigo, the superintendent of the Rose Tree Media School District in Media, Penn., SYF's partner in supporting the Simon Youth Rose Tree Media Academy at Granite Run Mall.

"We simply have kids who are square pegs trying to fit into round holes,” Wigo says. “We have applied every intervention, and it hasn’t worked. So rather than cut them loose, we provide the scaffolding to help them hang in.”

You can read the complete Harvard Education Letter report, Shopping Mall Schools, at the publication's website.

Courtesy Peabody Patch

Community news site Peabody Patch published on May 31 its coverage of the graduation ceremony at the Simon Youth Peabody Learning Academy at Northshore Mall in Peabody, Mass., just outside of Boston.

The story also features the theme of education different from the traditional, quoting former Peabody Mayor Michael Bonfanti, a strong advocate of the Academy while in office, as saying that the community "established this school because one size does not fit all."

You can read the complete Peabody Patch story, including a photo slide show from graduation, at the publication's website.

The Simon Youth Peabody Learning Academy is supported in partnership between SYF and Peabody Public Schools.