Simon Youth Foundation (SYF)

Awareness

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:14:42 +0000

Simon Youth Foundation teacher is a breath of fresh air in her non-traditional classroom

“I have never seen anyone put herself before others the way Kara does. She volunteers her heart and her time to these students because that is what she is called to do,” wrote Katie Burton.

Larkin, left, with her award

Burton’s words were part of a personal tribute to Kara Larkin that was one of many submitted on Larkin’s behalf when she was nominated as one of Central Indiana’s best teachers.

Larkin is the head teacher at the Simon Youth Clark Pleasant Academy in Whiteland, Ind. Burton also is a teacher at the non-traditional high school that is supported in partnership between Simon Youth Foundation and the Clark Pleasant Community School Corporation.

The quote from Burton above is one of three that appeared on

the award plaque that was presented to Larkin on January 24, 2011, when she was named an ExtraordinAIRy Teacher by Williams Comfort Air during a ceremony at the Academy.

2012 SCHOLARSHIPS

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:11:07 +0000

Applications for 2012 Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarships are being accepted until Thursday, March 1.

Follow the instructions included in the application packet for submitting your documents to the scholarships program’s independent administrator.

DOWNLOAD THE 2012 SIMON YOUTH FOUNDATION COMMUNITY SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION HERE

Students from any school or district in communities that are home to a Simon ® property are eligible to apply for a Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship. Applications can be obtained at the Guest Services desk inside each Simon mall or outlet center.

You can search for a Simon property in your community at the Simon website.

Nashville’s WTVF: Simon Youth Academy graduation brings students back from the brink

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 19:02:34 +0000

Simon Youth Academies in six nationwide communities celebrated mid-term graduation ceremonies in December, 2011, and January, 2012.

On Wednesday, Dec. 14, a proud group of 88 students crossed the stage during the commencement event for the Simon Youth Academy at Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville, Tenn.

Each of the graduates had dropped out or were on the verge of dropping out of their traditional high school before enrolling at the Academy. Their stories of triumph and hope were covered by Nashville’s local CBS News affiliate WTVF Channel 5. Channel 5′s story is posted below.

Congratulations to all of our amazing Simon Youth Foundation 2011 mid-term graduates!

Programs

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:25:16 +0000

SYF experience empowers student to paint new future for himself

Walk through the Simon Youth Academy at Westminster Mall, and you’re likely to run into Matthew Linville with paint brush in hand.

Linville, a student at the non-traditional high school for at-risk students that is supported by Simon Youth Foundation and the Huntington Beach Union High School District, has spent recent semesters decorating the school’s walls with hand-painted murals.

The largest of his creations decorates a long hallway and features a forest scene, which is fitting imagery for Linville’s personal story. He has had to persevere through the wilderness that life can be when a young man’s parents are not present in his life.

“My mother has been in and out of my life,” Linville says. “I have never met my father, and I am trying to confront those demons and move beyond my troubled past.”

Linville, who now lives with a grandmother, says his work on the school murals is a part of his process. They are an expression of his belief that any circumstance can be changed, improved, or made more beautiful.

“I believe that as a person I need to keep moving and keep striving for change to move away from where I have been before, and the murals are like this feeling of change when you can start from scratch and make the wall what you want it to be,” Linville says.

“Matthew brought the idea of the murals to me, and I believed that it was great opportunity for him to express himself,” says Dennis Herzog, the administrator at the Academy. “He is often here after class time to work on the murals, which have brightened our learning space.”

The murals also have brought the school’s students closers together. What started as a one-man job quickly became a group project with as many as 15 classmates designing and painting the murals under Linville’s guiding eye.

Read the rest of Linville’s story and see photos of some of his other murals at the SYF blog.

Results

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:09:48 +0000

SYF graduate earns scholarship abroad

There’s a lot going on in the world in late 2011. National revolutions, economic worries, pending political seasons all dot the global landscape, and for Sonia Davis being a part of the international goings-on is her professional dream.

This is why the 18 year old will pursue a degree in International Relations when she begins college this January, 2012. It’s also why the university she selected is located abroad.

“I was accepted by Richmond, The American International University in London, and I still sometimes can’t believe that I’ll not only be achieving my dream of going to college but doing it overseas,” Davis says.

Davis’s story is all the more impressive when you consider that Davis had dropped out of her traditional high school before enrolling in the spring of 2011 at the Simon Youth Judson Learning Academy, according to the Academy’s principal Brandon VanVleck. The school, located in the Rolling Oaks Mall in San Antonio, Texas, is operated in partnership between Simon Youth Foundation and the Judson Independent School District.

“For our students, completing high school is a great achievement and going on to college an even bigger milestone, but I can’t be more proud of Sonia for earning a spot at an international university where the process is highly competitive for limited spaces,” VanVleck says.

Thanks to a self-paced curriculum and supportive environment, Davis was able to complete her outstanding high school credits in less than two full semesters at the Academy. She earned her diploma in mid-October, 2011.

“I was out of school and thinking that I would just try to get my GED,” Davis says. “My friend Cecelia Williams told me about the Academy, and I am so glad because it has allowed me to finish high school when I thought that I would not.”

Read the full Sonia Davis story at the SYF blog.

Awareness

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:42:02 +0000

A teacher from the Simon Youth Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy at Knoxville Center in Knoxville, Tenn., was named East Tennessee’s Educator of the Month for October, 2011.

Jannice Clark teaches mathematics at the Academy, which serves students who are at risk of dropping out of school because of serious illness, pregnancy, and a range of other unique personal circumstances that make it too difficult to connect with learning in a traditional classroom setting.

The East Tennessee Educator of the Month is named by Star 102.1 radio and Huntington Learning Center. A former student nominated Clark through the radio station’s website, and a selection committee named Clark the October winner.

“We were told by the radio station that Jannice was chosen ‘hands down’ because the nomination essay told the story of the big difference she has made in students’ lives by giving them the hope and confidence to finish high school,” says Kim Towe, the Academy’s principal.

Clark was presented an award plaque during a ceremony at the Academy that was attended by Star 102.1 DJ Frank Murphy.

“This is an award that honors all of our school’s teachers for their dedication to our students,” Clark says. “I am very humbled that my students made the effort to nominate me, and it means a lot that I can have a positive impact in their lives.”

The Simon Youth Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy operates in partnership between Simon Youth Foundation and Knox County Schools.

Support

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:42:01 +0000

Simon Youth Foundation rolled up three major donations in October, 2011, from bowling tournaments and silent auctions hosted in three Simon Property Group regions over two weeks.

SPG is the Foundation’s top corporate partner, and the company hosts Bowling for Education tourneys throughout the year. The back-to-back events in October raised a total of nearly $300,000 to support SYF’s two major initiatives: Simon Youth Academies and Simon Youth Scholarships.

To raise funds, SPG malls that operate in a particular region compete to bring in the most sponsorship dollars for their region’s bowling event. The friendly competition among malls culminates in an evening of fun on the lanes that is attended by hundreds of people, including representatives from the sponsor companies, members of the Simon malls teams, community leaders, and other supporters. A silent auction also is held in conjunction with the bowling tournaments.

Watch photo slideshows from each regions event and read more about their individual fundraising successes at the SYF blog.

Simon Malls® wrap up a big holiday gift for Simon Youth Foundation

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:10:19 +0000

On top of making 2011 holiday gifts look great this year, the gift wrap centers at 35 nationwide Simon Malls are pledging their seasonal proceeds to Simon Youth Foundation and other local charities in their communities.

The gift wrap program is expected to raise more than $192,000 with half of that total going to SYF to benefit its two major initiatives: Simon Youth Academies and Simon Youth Scholarships.

Click here to read more and see a complete listing of participating malls.

Peterson to lead Education Services for Simon Youth Foundation

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:42:38 +0000

Peterson joined SYF on Nov. 16, 2011

Arleen Peterson has been named the Vice President, Education Services, of Simon Youth Foundation, the Indianapolis-based nonprofit that supports non-traditional high schools with its public school partners in 13 states.

At the Foundation, Peterson will manage all SYF services related to the Simon Youth Scholarships program and the national network of 23 Simon Youth Academies, which are non-traditional high schools primarily located in Simon malls that serve at-risk youth in partnership with local public school districts.

“As a long time advocate for public education, I am proud to be leading the education programming for Simon Youth Foundation, an organization that works with local public school districts and leverages unique resources to help those districts provide quality non-traditional classes for students who are at risk of dropping out,” Peterson says.

“For the last 13 years, SYF has enjoyed great success in helping more than 8,000 at-risk students earn their high school diploma,” says Deborah J. Simon, the chairperson of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. “Arleen Peterson brings skills and talents to our organization that will allow us to expand our reach and impact many thousands more students in the years to come.”

Peterson most recently served as the Director of Education Initiatives at the national office of Communities In Schools, 2006-2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Indiana University and a master’s degree in School Counseling from Ball State University.

SYF President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., says Peterson will reshape the Foundation’s Education Services to be more data driven in its pursuit of best practices and successful programming for the Simon Youth Academies network and its 3,500 students and 200 teachers.

“Arleen’s addition to the SYF team brings the Foundation another step closer to its goal of becoming the alternative-education organization of record,” Durnil says. “Her depth of experience in directing successful data-driven education programs will improve the services we provide to SYF students and teachers.”

In a two decade career, Peterson also has worked for Voices for Illinois Children, an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services campaign for foster care agency recruitment. Peterson also was a community organizer working with U.S. President Barack Obama, then a state senator, and other leaders on the Southside of Chicago, IL, at the Lugenia Burns Hope Center. She assumed her new role at SYF effective Nov. 16, 2011.

Simon Youth Foundation best practices featured at series of national and state conferences

jackdbraj.syf@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:35:25 +0000

Simon Youth Foundation President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D., was a featured panelist at the University of Indianapolis Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) Conference, Nov. 14-15, 2011.

The CELL Conference presentation was the third in a series of national presentations made by SYF in the Fall of 2011. The Foundation also was asked to present at the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities National Conference and the Kappa Delta Pi International 48th Biennial Convocation in October.

Read the full article at the Simon Youth Foundation blog.