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With the bulk of Simon Youth Academy students returning to their high school classrooms this month, the office has been a flurry of activity for everyone at the Foundation.
Boxes packed and ready to ship SYF, Simon Tower, Indianapolis, Ind. | August 2012
For the SYF education team, 2012 back-to-school preparations have run the gamut, from the full-tilt project management of the Re-opening of the Academy of Opry Mills in Nashville, Tenn., to the small-scale pick and pack assembly of care packages for each of our 24 Academies. Whatever the project, it's handled with care and driven by the Foundation's mission to help youth--who are at risk of dropping out of high school--graduate, develop life skills, and pursue post-secondary education and career paths.
The 24 back-to-school care packages, the contents of which are ultimately intended for Academy students, were piled high with school supply classics. Some of the items transported us to days of yore, including number 2 pencils, spiral bound notebooks and calculators. Other supplies, such as headphones and USB flash drives, otherwise reminded us of our age. For Academy students, nostalgia likely won't be on the radar as they receive their individual parcels in the coming days.
This gesture--packing and shipping school supplies bound for Academies and their students--is a hopeful one. Students will repack these items into their backpacks and messenger bags, and before we know it another school year will have passed.
Please join us in wishing our Academy students, teachers and administrators all the best this school year.
Just yesterday, we were joined by officials from Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and the Opry Mills shopping destination, along with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, to ceremoniously cut the ribbon and re-open the Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills. This homecoming has been a longtime in the making after floods in May 2010 devastated Nashville, Tenn., to the tune of $2 billion. Many of the Music City's homes and businesses were—at worst—destroyed or—at least—waterlogged, and countless structures including the Academy at Opry Mills were officially closed pending major renovations.
SYF at the ribbon with students, Mayor Karl Dean, and our friends at MNPS and Opry Mills | August 2012
While Tenn.-based Retail Builders and local contractors began the painstaking rebuild and renovation of the Academy at Opry Mills, students formerly in attendance there began attending Simon Youth Academy at Old Cockrill. Thanks to this arrangement, these students continued learning through the Simon Youth Academy alternative education model, which likely provided some much-needed normalcy following the floods.
Today, students return to the Academy at Opry Mills having not missed a beat with regard to their educations. We welcome new students to the Academy, where we will continue to Ignite Hope for a brighter tomorrow in Nashville.
During the ceremony, Mayor Dean applauded the return of the Academy at Opry Mills, sharing "They address the drop out rate, and they do a wonderful thing for this community."
A sampling of the dozens of thank you greetings received from this year's scholarship awardees.
On the heels of this weeks’ 2012 Simon Youth Foundation scholarship awards ceremonies, which were held in Simon Malls in 41 states, this year’s 266 recipients will soon head to post-secondary institutions nationwide with a collective $1.1 million in their pockets for college tuitions.
Part of their pre-college preparations included a nod to Miss Manners in the form of thoughtfully composed—and in some cases hand-crafted—thank you letters, cards and greetings to Simon Youth Foundation for their awards. Here are some excerpts:
"All my gratitude goes to your generosities in assisting me with my postsecondary education. This scholarship is important because it allows me fulfill one of my mom's last wishes before she passed away from ovarian cancer back in October. She wanted me to attend a prestigious university and have a successful career. All my hard work and dedication to succeed is in her memory. I hope she will be proud of the person I become." Takashi Yanagi, Urbandale, IA
"The funds from your scholarship keep my dream of eventually going to medical school alive. Your generous funds are not just funding an education; they are funding a life-long dream." Austin Puckett, Brandon, MS
"I have been involved in a variety of volunteer opportunities since middle school in both my school and local communities. As a result of this scholarship, I hope to continue my volunteer efforts including mentoring Philadelphia students in computers and robotics so they could have the same opportunities just as you have given me." Jeffry Ng, Abington, PA
"I cannot thank you enough for the generous award of the Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship. The Simon Malls have always been a huge part of my life. Many of the memories from my childhood are Mall based, from visits with Santa to walking the Mall on rainy days. The thing that makes this award especially rewarding to me is the fact that my brother was the 2011 recipient of the Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship, and I am honored to follow in his footsteps." Casey Thomas, Danvers, MA
"Thank you for taking the time to consider me and all that I have to offer." Catherine Semple, Peekskill, NY
Finally, in addition to his thanks, one student elected to share both his college admissions essay and his mentor's letter of recommendation. Here's a snippet of the recommendation letter, which reminds us of the It Takes a Village principal:
"[Stephen] is bright; in fact, when it comes to computers, he is brilliant. I have promised him that I will never desert him, and we continue to work for a college education. He was recently been accepted into the Pennsylvania College of Technology, which is his dream school." Arthur Bloom from his recommendation letter for mentee Stephen Rhodes, Chalfont, PA
