The second and third quarters have been full of graduations and events for Simon Youth Foundation (SYF). With students across the country heading back to school, we wanted to take a beat and reflect on the past three months.
In May, we kicked off our 30 Simon Youth Academy graduations at Simon Youth Academy at Independence Center in Independence, Missouri. Six weeks later, we attended our three (soon-to-be four!) Simon Youth Academies in Seattle, which marked the final graduates of the school year. Giving us much to celebrate, SYF helped 1,557 students graduate in 2018, bringing our lifetime number of Simon Youth Academy graduates to 17,217! With five new academies opening in time for the 2018-2019 school year, we can’t wait to add to this total in the year ahead!
Helping to elevate SYF’s nationwide impact, several media outlets published stories about SYF’s graduates. The Houston Chronicle spoke with several teachers and graduates of Simon Youth Academy at Katy Mills (Texas), including a teary-eyed graduate who called the Academy “a home” and “more than just a school.” Northshore Magazine and The Salem News described the challenges SYF’s students often face on their path to graduation, and recognized that their success is “more than academic.”
The Wichita Eagle profiled Geraldine Washington, who graduated from Simon Youth Chester I. Lewis Academy (Kansas) at age 71; fortunately, Kansas law does not have a maximum age for students to return to school. Geraldine dropped out of high school after becoming pregnant as a teen, but was inspired by her granddaughter – who also became pregnant in high school but persevered and graduated at Geraldine’s insistence – to finally earn her diploma.
Several of the students profiled in these articles were recipients of SYF’s Simon Youth Scholarship Program, through which SYF awarded more than $1 million to students this year! At SYF’s annual Indianapolis Scholarship Event alone, we awarded more than $145,000 in scholarships to 39 Indiana-area high school graduates. Recipients included students from Simon Youth Academies, students who live within a Simon Mall community and children of Simon Property Group (SPG) employees. We look forward to awarding even more in the coming years (applications open August 15!)!
With our summer events, SYF and key donors golfed for grads and raced to the finish line to help even more students reach graduation day. At the 11th Annual Tees For Education event, a record-breaking $65,000 was raised. Check out photos from the event here!
At our Founders Celebration one month later, we hosted donors and SPG executives for an evening on the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway race track. The final total raised that night was nearly $410,000 – another record-breaking event for SYF. See event photos here!
As we head into the 2018-19 school year, SYF is proud to open five new Academies:
- Simon Youth Academy at Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville, Georgia (in partnership with Gwinnett County Public Schools)
- Simon Youth Academy at McKinley Alternative School in Kokomo, Indiana (in partnership with Kokomo School Corporation)
- Simon Youth Academy at The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey (in partnership with Union County Vocational-Technical Schools)
- Simon Youth Academy at Hastings in Baldwin, New York (in partnership with Baldwin Union Free School District)
- Seattle Public Schools Bridges Program at Simon Youth Academy in Seattle, Washington (in partnership with Seattle Public Schools)
With your support, SYF means graduation!
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