Backpacks Full of Hope

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.