As a young student I was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Countless ideas filled my head – an astronaut, teacher, athlete, artist – all with the idea that I could go anywhere and do anything.
With unemployment and homelessness hitting highs not seen since the Great Depression, children today have been asked to grow up quicker. Many have few, if any, positive role models. Many are being forced to start making adult decisions earlier than preceding generations.
Our political leaders have spent an inordinate amount of time arguing how our public school dollars are best used with only marginal results. This turmoil has trickled down to our kids. It has made high school expendable in some students’ eyes because the need to make money and help provide for the family has taken over. This sad reality is why we work hard every day at the Simon Youth Foundation.
Alarming statistics further depict an urgent need for alternatives.
In America’s high schools, 7,000 students drop out every day totaling 1.2 million annually – equal to the same number of jobs lost in the U.S. during 2008.
Over the course of a lifetime, each high school dropout costs the nation approximately $350,000 in lost earnings, taxes and productivity.
Taking the above statistics, today the United States lost $2.5 million because these high school students decided to quit.
At Simon Youth Academies throughout the United States we are turning around the lives of at-risk youth. The resiliency and fire I see from our graduates is nothing short of remarkable when taking into account their individual stories of struggle.
One such example is a student named Abby. She currently attends the Simon Youth Clark Pleasant Academy in Whiteland, Ind. In the traditional high school setting, she was hanging out with the wrong crowd making poor decisions. She quickly fell behind her classmates in all areas of studies and her ability to graduate was fading.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do and school wasn’t clicking until I got to the academy. I haven’t missed a day of school because of how engaging the teachers are and the pace of studies. I can go faster in subjects I’m strong in and slow down to get help in the others. Without this academy, graduation wasn’t a thought in my head. Even when I started, people didn’t think I could do it and I’m proving everyone wrong.”
It’s at-risk youth like Abby who simply needed a chance to succeed. She’s not only going to graduate, she’s moving on to higher education where she plans to become a nurse.
This coming year, SYF will celebrate our 15th year and our 10,000th graduate. At Simon Youth Foundation, we are proving these types of partnerships work, and we are serving as a national model.
SYF’s mission is for youth to start here and go anywhere. As I travel to each of our 23 academies in 13 states, I see this first hand. Our students no longer check off what they can’t do – they write down goals they want and can achieve.
Dr. J. Michael Durnil is president and CEO of Simon Youth Foundation.
