Indianapolis area scholarship winners recognized

This year, Simon Youth Foundation is awarding over $1.3 million in Simon Youth Scholarships across the nation to 289 deserving college-bound students. As part of the celebration, the Indianapolis area Simon Malls honored 15 scholarship recipients headed to post-secondary education this fall. Collectively, these students received nearly $90,000.

The SYF staff was proud to attend the scholarship presentation ceremony on Thursday, June 26, inside the Indianapolis Artsgarden at Circle Centre Mall, which is just a block away from the SYF home office. Each recipient is headed in a unique path and going after their dreams. Congratulations to all these great students!

Julian Batts is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner and his scholarship is presented in partnership with Fashion Mall at Keystone. The one-time award carries value of $1,400. Julian graduated from Carmel High School and plans to attend Indiana University - Bloomington and major in Business and Spanish.

Joel Bragg is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Joel is a graduate of the Simon Youth Clark Pleasant Academy, and his award is presented in partnership with Greenwood Park Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to two years and carries a total potential value of $7,700. Joel plans to attend Ivy Tech’s Columbus campus and major in nursing.

Mandy Carroll is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner and her scholarship is presented in partnership with Circle Centre. The one-time award carries value of $1,400. Mandy graduated from Mooresville High School and plans to attend Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana and major in Nursing.

Kathryn Fillingsness is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner in partnership with Hamilton Town Center. The one-time award carries a total value of $1,400. Kathryn graduated from Hamilton Southeastern High School and plans to attend Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and major in Management and Marketing.

Katie Gillin is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Katie is a graduate of the Simon Youth Pacers Academy, and her award is presented in partnership with Washington Square Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to two years and carries a total potential value of $7,700. Katie plans to attend Ivy Tech’s Central Indiana campus and major Criminal Justice.

Terry Harris is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Terry is a graduate of the Simon Youth Pacers Academy, and his award is presented in partnership with Washington Square Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to four years and carries a total potential value of $31,000. Terry plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and major in engineering.

Rose Hatfield is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner. Her award is presented in partnership with Castleton Square Mall. The one-time award carries a value of $1,400. Rose graduated from Pike High School and plans to attend IUPUI and major in Veterinary Medicine.

Jasmine Hawkins is a Simon Choice Award winner in partnership with Clay Terrace. The one-time award carries a total value of $700. Jasmine graduated from Pike High School and plans to attend the University of Indianapolis in and major in Nursing.

Gina Hestand is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Gina is a graduate of the Simon Youth Clark Pleasant Academy, and her award is presented in partnership with Greenwood Park Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to two years and carries a total potential value of $7,700. Gina plans to attend Ivy Tech’s Columbus campus and major in Veterinary Technology.

Jacob Holzer is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Jacob is a graduate of the Simon Youth Clark Pleasant Academy, and his award is presented in partnership with Greenwood Park Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to two years and carries a total potential value of $7,700. Jacob plans to attend Vincennes University and major in Avionic Technology.

Olivia Huff is a Simon Youth Award of Excellence winner and her award is presented in partnership with Greenwood Park Mall. The award is renewable up to four years and valued at $10,000. Olivia graduated from Brownstown Central High School and plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and major in Foods and Nutrition.

Sierra Kelley is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner and her award is presented in partnership with Greenwood Plus. The one-time award is valued at $1,400. Sierra graduated from Mooresville High School and plans to attend IUPUI and major in Accounting and Finance.

Alexa Poynter is a Simon Choice Award winner in partnership with Castleton Square Mall. The one-time award carries a total value of $700. Alexa graduated from Pike High School and plans to attend Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and major in Apparel Design and Technology.

Brandy Smith is a Simon Youth Academy scholarship winner. Brandy is a graduate of the Simon Youth Pacers Academy, and her award is presented in partnership with Washington Square Mall. The award is renewable for a total of up to two years and carries a total potential value of $7,700. Brandy plans to attend Ivy Tech’s Central Indiana campus and major in nursing.

Chase Watson is a Simon Youth Community Scholarship winner. His award is presented in partnership with Clay Terrace. The one-time award carries a total value of $1,400. Chase graduated from Hamilton Southeastern High School and plans to attend Indiana University - Bloomington and major in Business and Finance.

A Graduation Season to Remember

As the 2013 spring graduation season comes to a close, here is a wrap-up of some of the featured coverage the graduates and the Foundation received. Simon Youth Academy graduations were featured on several media outlets throughout the nation. As a result of SYF’s work, partner school districts are seeing increases in graduation rates, communities are finding better prepared and skilled graduates for employment, and more students extending their educational journey to post-secondary institutions.  

The 10,000th graduate of Simon Youth Academies was the biggest story of the graduation season. The surprise celebration event was covered by all major San Antonio TV outlets including Fox 29 News KABB-FOX during two newscasts, Eyewitness News KENS-CBS, Noticero 41 KWEX-UNIVISION, and News 4 San Antonio WOAI-NBC. See the coverage at:

KABB-FOX  

KENS-CBS  

KWEX-Univision  

WOAI-NBC  
Simon Youth Academy Class of 2013 

From FOX 29 Lake Charles, LA

The Lake Charles, Louisiana FOX TV affiliate channel 29 had a two minute piece on the local impact of the Simon Youth Academy at Prien Lake Mall’s graduation. The package featured students talking about their excitement for the future and the administrator Kenny Brown explaining why the Academy is important to the community. Watch the story.

High School Students Given a Second Chance to Graduate
From News 5 Nashville, TN

News Channel 5 in Nashville covered graduations at Simon Youth Academy at Hickory Hollow, Simon Youth Academy at Old Cockrill, and Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills in Nashville, Tennessee. The piece gave a nice overview of how these SYF Academies are impacting individual students and the local area. Watch the story.

Peabody Learning Academy Graduates 50th Student This Year
From Peabody Patch, Peabody, PA

The Peabody Patch has featured many articles about the Simon Youth Peabody Learning Academy at Northshore Mall including this great piece about the graduation and scholarship presentation. This most recent piece highlighted the successes of 2012-13, including the graduation in late May.

Read the story.
View the pictures.

Simon Youth Pacers Academy celebrates 48 new graduates [LINK TO ONLINE ARTICLE AND PDF OF PRINT ARTICLE]
From Indianapolis Star online AND Indianapolis Star Print, Indianapolis, IN

The Simon Youth Pacers Academy at Washington Square Mall was featured in a picture slide show and article on indystar.com, and followed the next day with a cover story in the Metro News section. Being featured in a Thursday newspaper is ideal timing as more than 400,000 subscriptions are for the Thursday and Sunday only package. Read the story.

Show Your True Colors

Simon Youth Foundation has the perfect opportunity to put fun and volunteering in the same sentence! Sign up to volunteer for The Color Run on behalf of SYF, the Indianapolis charity partner of the happiest 5K on the planet.

The Color Run comes to Indianapolis July 20th and we’ll need SYF supporters all along the race course. As participants make their way around the course, SYF volunteers will be helping with runner check-in, hydration areas and applying colored powder onto runners as they pass through four different stations - pink, blue, yellow and orange. If you can’t volunteer, think about signing up for this fun 5K event that welcomes all ages and athletic ability. The 2012 event was attended by over 10,000 people and provided more than $9,000 in support and provided great awareness locally and nationally.

Your volunteer time will raise awareness so that no youth should be without a high school education. Igniting hope in at-risk youth is as simple as showing your support at this event. More than 10,000 SYF Academy students have found that optimism by earning their diploma that they can go anywhere their dreams lead them. More than 3,600 graduates have attended technical or trade schools, and two or four year higher learning institutions thanks to more than $10 million awarded through the SYF scholarship program. It is making a difference, but we still need your help.

SYF wants as many volunteers as possible, so sign-up early and spread the word to your friends, family and colleagues.  If you can’t participate, consider helping SYF ignite hope in at-risk youth by donating at syf.org/donate. Your contribution helps students graduate high school through SYF Academies and awards scholarships to ensure there isn’t a financial obstacle to attend post-secondary education.

Volunteer Today!

Congratulations Brandi!

SYF President and CEO Dr. J. Michael Durnil (left) with
Senior Director of Advancement Brandi Young (right).

Simon Youth Foundation is proud to announce that the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Indiana Chapter has named Brandi Young, Simon Youth Foundation’s Senior Director of Advancement, to its Board of Directors. The formal election took place during the Annual Meeting Wednesday.

“Brandi is a great asset to SYF and now to AFP-Indiana,” said Dr. J. Michael Durnil, SYF’s President and CEO. “She brings a wealth of talent and experience including staff leadership, strategic planning, revenue and expense forecasting, event planning and donor stewardship. Overall, she’s responsible for multi-channel fundraising activities that generate more than $3.3 million annually for SYF. I am proud to have her on my team and am sure AFP-Indiana will feel the same way.”        

Brandi earned her bachelor’s degree in sports marketing from Indiana University-Bloomington. She has been with Simon Youth Foundation nine years and serves as chief liaison to the Foundation’s corporate donors, including Simon Property Group and Simon mall platforms, and facilitating a wide-range of nationwide fundraising events each year. Prior to joining SYF, Brandi worked for Simon Property Group in various field capacities. She has also completed course work and professional training at The Fund Raising School, part of the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI.

A regular volunteer and troop leader with the Girl Scouts of America, Brandi is also involved with a number of local township, school and service projects in and around the Indianapolis area. She has held steadfast to her belief that with education as a foundation, all youth can go anywhere their dreams take them.

Founded in 1978, AFP-IC is the premiere statewide association for fundraising professionals and offers a host of professional development opportunities, certifications and networking within the industry. Brandi’s election to this board gives the Foundation an increased presence in the fundraising community locally and nationally.

Please join all of us at SYF in congratulating Brandi and wish her well on this new endeavor.

MY SCHOLARSHIP BOOK TRAILER - AUDIO

 

MAKULILO SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION

CALIFORNIA, USA

MAKOSA KATIKA UOMBAJI UFADHILI WA ELIMU UGHAIBUNI

Makosa makubwa katika uombaji udhamini wa elimu ughaibuni

 

MAKULILO SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION

CALIFORNIA, USA

In two minutes

Ignite hope in at-risk youth by making a
donation at syf.org/donate.

What can you do in two minutes? We are often in such a rush with meetings, text messages and filling out reports, do you ever stop and think the impact you could have in two minutes? Every 29 seconds a student decides to give up on getting a high school diploma. That means in two minutes four more students will walk away from reaching their potential. You can do something to prevent this from happening. Take those 120 seconds and donate to Simon Youth Foundation.

For every $1,000 raised, SYF can help a student graduate from a Simon Youth Academy. This graduate has the opportunity to earn on average $350,000 more over their lifetime than a dropout.  Perhaps more importantly, however, the walls and obstacles have been removed so they can pursue their dreams. If they start here, they can go anywhere.

In partnership with local school districts, Simon Youth Academies create a community around the student where new ways of thinking are practiced, expressed and nurtured. Students may have experienced bullying, early parenthood, illness or some other hardship that prevented them from seeing the benefits of an education. Teachers reach the students where they are and guide them to where they need to be. Across the SYF Academy network, more than 90% receive their diploma which is a testament to the daily hard work of more than 120 educators.

Since 1998, SYF has graduated more than 10,000 at-risk students and awarded over $10 million in scholarships to more than 3,600 students in 42 states. These statistics only show part of the story. SYF is working hard to continue this momentum and we need your help.

In honor of SYF igniting hope for 15 years, consider making an investment in the future.

Visit syf.org/donate