Gary Thrapp: Our Friend In Deed

Gary Thrapp, local business owner of G. Thrapp Jewelers and longtime friend to the Simon Youth Foundation, was shot during a robbery at home just after midnight on Sunday, September 16, 2012. All of us at Simon Youth Foundation are keeping Gary in our thoughts as he moves toward recovery.

Gary and his wife invited friends to make donations to the Foundation in lieu of sending flowers to the family. This generous gesture is indicative of the friendship and support the Thrapp family has shared with SYF for many years. Even in his own time of need, Gary is igniting hope for students once at risk of dropping out of high school.

The philanthropic relationships we share with our donors are unique to each person. At SYF, we are often humbled and surprised at the many ways in which our donors connect with us. We are so grateful to the Thrapp family now and always.

G. Thrapp Jewelers is posting regular updates regarding Gary’s recovery on the G. Thrapp Jewelers' facebook page. Please join us in sharing best wishes with the Thrapp family for Gary’s swift and full recovery.

UPDATED: After Year Fore Comes Five

UPDATE ON WEDNESDAY, SEP. AUG. 26
This year's Annual Tees for Education raised nearly $27,000. Thanks to each and every one of you who made this possible!




ORIGINAL POST ON FRIDAY, SEP. 14
September 14, 2012, marks the Simon Youth Foundation’s 5th Annual Tees for Education golf scramble. Despite chilly, damp conditions on the 18-hole course at The Legends of Indiana Golf Club, a nearly full field of dedicated foursomes teed up in support of the Foundation’s two key program initiatives, Simon Youth Scholarships and Simon Youth Academies.

In the time it took this year’s Tees for Education golfers to play their round, more than 450 high school students dropped out of high school. Simon Youth Foundation answers this epidemic each and every day through its programs that help youth—who are at risk of dropping out of high school—graduate, develop life skills, and pursue post-secondary education career paths.

Special thanks to the many corporate and individual sponsors who kept The 5th Annual Tees for Education swinging smooth, including Eagle Sponsors TES Engineering and GES.

We look forward to posting updates regarding total amounts raised during the scramble. In the meantime, please check out the Simon Youth Foundation Flicker page to catch up with today's highlights. Who knows … you might even learn who won longest putt!

It's Never to Late to Say Thanks

Scholarship essay winner Jackson O. at the re-opening
of The Academy at Opry Mills in Nashville, TN.
August 2012

Even as fall academic terms are well underway, thank you letters are still trickling in from student recipients who received Simon Youth Scholarships this summer.

Simon Youth Foundation is so pleased to share these communications as a gesture of our own thanks to our supporters, without whom we wouldn’t be able to help students at risk of dropping out of high school to develop life skills, achieve high school graduation and pursue post-secondary education career paths.

Here are some excerpts from the latest batch of thank you letters.

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for your financial contribution toward my college education. I look forward to pursuing a degree in Sociology and Ethnic Studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland this fall. Your generosity continues to inspire me to help others and give back to the community. Thanks to you, I am one step closer to that goal.
Evelyn C.
Baltimore, MD

As a recipient of the Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship, please accept my profound thanks for helping me realize my life's dream of a college education. Not only is the financial help appreciated, but being recognized as a scholarship winner is even more of an honor. I am inspired by the confidence you have placed in me and I intend to work diligently to deserve that investment. I cannot thank you enough.

Rachel C.
Rising Sun, Indiana

I am planning on attending the University of Maine in the field of Mechanical Engineering Technology and plan on staying at home to cut back on expenses. I really appreciate receiving this scholarship because it, along with my summer job, has paid for my first semester of classes. By receiving your scholarship … I don't have to take out a loan to pay for my expenses. I really appreciate that you picked me for this scholarship because it will most definitely help me to continue in further education.

Travis C.
Old Town, ME

I am honored to have been chosen as one of your scholarship winners. Your gift is certainly appreciated and will allow me to focus on my studies rather than worrying about finances as I head off to Thiel College. I am truly thankful and blessed because of your generosity. Thank you again for this award.

Cassie G.
Sharpsville, PA

I would like to thank the Foundation for helping me pursue my dreams and goals of attaining a BA, or maybe ever a Master's degree in Business Management Economics as I attend the University of California Santa Cruz. Thank you so very much; this scholarship will help my family and I a great deal as tuition bills start coming in.

Gregory L.
San Jose, CA

Thank you so much for awarding me with a generous scholarship. It is such a big help in my transition into college, and I am honored that I was selected to get it. The award will lessen the financial burden for myself and particularly my Mom & Dad.

I am starting as a Freshman at Immaculata University in just a couple weeks, where I will be studying Fashion Merchandising. I would not have made it this far if it weren't for the Foundation and the absolutely amazing teachers at my school [Simon Youth Rose Tree Media Academy at Granite Run Mall]. I am so grateful of the help I got in high school and the preparation I got for college at the [Academy]. Again, thank you so much for my scholarship and I will keep in touch through my college years.

Olivia M.
Media, PA

I plan to be a mechanical engineering major and want to work with renewable energy … By awarding me the SYF Community Scholarship, I can focus less on my financial need and more on the importance of school and my education. Thank you for your generosity, and I hope someday I will be able to help students in financial need as you have for me.

Macklin W.
South Yarmouth, MA



Finally, we’d like to share the thank you we received from a student who participated in an essay contest held in conjunction with the recent re-grand opening of The Academy at Opry Mills.

I would like to thank you and the Simon Youth Foundation for awarding me this generous scholarship opportunity. Thank you for giving me the chance to share my story and recognizing my achievements. I have been through a lot throughout my life, and plan on putting my scholarship to good use. With this award I can go to the college I want and try to utilize my college experience to further educate myself and succeed in the job world. I will keep my grades up and keep you updated on my grades. Thank you for the wonderful opportunity.

Jackson O.
Nashville, TN

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.

Back in a Big Way in Music City

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."

Nashville's local NBC news affiliate, News Channel 5, was on site for the ribbon cutting, along with WZTV FOX17, WSMV Channel 4 and WKRN Channel 2 Nashville News.

Welcome back Academy at Opry Mills. Our sincere thanks to all who made this re-grand opening a hard won reality.

Simon Youth Foundation receives an outpouring of thanks from scholarship awardees

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 

 

The Color Run Indianapolis delivers the green to Simon Youth Foundation

Dubbed the happiest 5K race on earth, Indianapolis, Ind., hosted its first-ever Color Run on July 28, 2012.

An estimated 10,000 runners participated, getting smothered with paint along the race route. A portion of every racer registration will be donated to Simon Youth Foundation to support the Simon Youth Academy and Simon Youth Scholarships programs, which extend valuable educational opportunities to at-risk youth.



Local media provided day of Color Run coverage, including the Indianapolis Star and WXIN-TV Fox 59, the city’s Fox affiliate. WIBC provided pre-event coverage.