posted by: Bass, Joseph A - MNPS at Jun 26, 2012 3:01:00 PM
Want to help great students earn their high school diplomas?
A school that gives students their second chance to graduate is getting a second chance itself. The Academy at Opry Mills had to move across town after the historic flood of 2010. But it is being reborn with a lot of hard work and help from Metro Schools and our partners at the Simon Youth Foundation.
Now you can pitch in, too.
 Simon Youth has set up a “gift registry” of sorts where you can make donations that will go directly to finishing The Academy’s space inside Opry Mills Mall. Have $50 to contribute? You just “bought” a lamp or other classroom support item for students to use. $100? That’s good for a set of group seating. Big spenders can sponsor high-tech items like interactive white boards, teacher workstations or even an entire media center that students will use directly.
Furnish the Future of The Academy at Opry Mills
“This is not about buying fixtures for classrooms; this is about furnishing the future of Nashville by keeping young people in school so that they can prosper to become active members of the community who secure well-paying jobs that positively impact the local economy,” says SYF President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D.
The donations all go toward a $350,000 grant from Simon Youth to Metro Schools. That grant is what will help The Academy at Opry Mills break new ground in classroom design. The school is being built using the principles set forth in The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning. It will be a collaborative and engaging environment far removed from the traditional high school classroom. Please take a moment to look at the donation page and make a contribution, no matter how small (or big!).
And look for a lot more bragging about The Academies at Old Cockrill, Hickory Hollow, and Opry Mills in 2012-13!
Full release from the Simon Youth Foundation:
“Furnish the Future” Public Giving Campaign Launches in Support of Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After being closed for more than two years following the historic Nashville flood in May of 2010, the Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills will reopen this August and once again serve Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) students who are at risk for dropping out.
Now, Nashville area residents can help write the story of the school’s return by making a gift to Simon Youth Foundation, the nonprofit organization supporting the school’s reconstruction.
In the style of a gift registry, a donation page has been established at SYF.org to allow the Nashville community and other supporters to directly contribute to the construction of the new school, including the purchase of student desks and seating and learning resources like white boards and monitors.
“Gifts supporting the Academy at Opry Mills are a sound investment in the city’s future, and we are hopeful that Nashville residents will take ownership of this new school by contributing to the cause,” said SYF President and CEO J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D. “This is not about furnishing classrooms; this is about securing the future of Nashville by keeping young people in school so that they can become active members of our community.”
In a first for Metro Schools, the Academy at Opry Mills will utilize concepts from the book The Third Teacher: 79 Ways You Can Use Design to Transform Teaching & Learning. With innovative use of space and design, the Academy will promote collaborative and active learning while offering flexibility in the layout of learning spaces. The environment will engage students in new ways and benefit student-teacher interaction.
“For the students at the Academy, the traditional classroom setting did not work,” Durnil says. “We will be creating a non-traditional environment that will ignite hope in students, giving them the confidence to be successful and earn their high school diploma.”
Gifts made through the gift registry page at SYF.org will help fund a $350,000 grant from Simon Youth Foundation to Metro Schools for the Academy build out, and the school will operate in partnership between the two organizations with support from Opry Mills.
To support the reopening of the Academy at Opry Mills, donors can log on to http://www.syf.org/support-syf/donate-in-support-of-the-simon-youth-academy-at-opry-mills. While suggested gift amounts are posted at the page, donations at any level are encouraged. SYF is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, and all gifts to the Academy construction are tax deductible.
The Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills is one of two Metro Schools supported by SYF. The second is the Simon Youth Academy at Hickory Hollow, which opened to serve the students displaced by the flood-forced closure of the school at Opry Mills in 2010. Between the two Academies, SYF and MNPS will annually serve as many as 500 at-risk Nashville youth.
The reopening of The Simon Youth Academy at Opry Mills follows the recent return of Opry Mills as the largest outlet and value retail shopping, dining, and entertainment destination in Tennessee. With more than 200 popular stores, plus an unmatched selection of family-friendly dining options and entertainment venues, Opry Mills is a top destination and a vital economic force, providing jobs, impacting tourism, and generating revenue.
About SYF
Simon Youth Foundation, established in 1998, operates 23 academies in 13 U.S. states that give at-risk students the same education they would receive in a traditional classroom while offering the flexibility that their individual circumstances require. Recipient of the Crystal Star Award of Excellence in Dropout Prevention from the National Dropout Prevention Center, the foundation has helped more than 8,000 students earn their high school diploma and provided more than $10.7 million in college scholarships to 3,500 students in 42 states. The Education Commission of the United States has recognized the Foundation with its Corporate Award for sustained and substantial investment in improving public education. |
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