Operation Opportunity Blog http://blog.operationopportunity.org Stay up to date with the latest in Operation Opportunity Thu, 03 May 2012 00:53:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Launching Warrior-Scholar Project http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=30 http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=30#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 00:46:13 +0000 Jesse Reising http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=30 Continue reading →]]> Why Operation Opportunity: Warrior-Scholar Project?
Veterans transitioning to college likely have not used academic skills since high school and have difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar and fundamentally different social environment. Unfortunately, these challenges often lead to veterans dropping out of college before earning their degree.

The Warrior-Scholar Project is a donor-funded week-long workshop hosted at Yale University from June 3rd-10th to help veterans transition from combat to college. Participating veterans attend courses and discussions led by current Yale student-veterans and professors on topics including:

- Academic reading and writing
- Adapting to changed social circumstances
- Translating skills used and acquired in the military to the college environment
- Overcoming and embracing many other challenges that are inevitably confronted by non-traditional college students, especially veterans.

Our Story
Jesse Reising, after being disqualified from military service due to an injury sustained while playing in the 2010 Yale-Harvard football game, along with Yale classmates Nick Rugoff and Cliff Foreman, partnered with Chris Howell, a nine year veteran of the Australian Army, to develop a program to help veterans transition from combat to college.

Chris Howell, President of Yale’s Eli Whitney Students’ Association, modeled the Warrior-Scholar Project curriculum on a crash course in academics his brother put together for him to help him transition from the military to college.

Instructors:
Professors John Lewis Gaddis, Charles Hill, Donald Kagan, Michael Fotos, William Whobrey, William Sledge, the Yale Writing Center staff, and others.

Course Titles:
“Life with College Students: What You Can Offer Them,” “Academic Writing: Elements of an Essay,” “Veterans’ Strengths and Weaknesses,” and many more.

Show Your Support!
www.operationopportunity.org/donate

Meet the Warrior-Scholars
Come meet the Warrior-Scholars during a reception at Temple Bar at Mory’s in New Haven, CT from 8:00pm-10:00pm on Saturday, June 9th, 2012!

-Jesse & Chris

–
Chris Howell
Warrior-Scholar Project Director

Jesse Reising
President

]]> http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?feed=rss2&p=30 0 Launching Gold Star Scholars Project http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=19 http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=19#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:11:56 +0000 Jesse Reising http://blog.operationopportunity.org/?p=19 Continue reading →]]> Our team at Operation Opportunity is honored to be working with our first students as we roll out our pilot program for the Gold Star Scholars Project today. We will be closely monitoring our initial mentor-mentee interactions for feedback and areas of improvement as we continue to expand our reach.

We are indebted to our partners and those who have donated to help make our vision a reality. Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is providing our mentors with a specialized training program so they can most effectively interact with their mentees. Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation (CFPF) has introduced us to many of the families we will be working with. TutorTrove has graciously provided us with a platform through which to work with our students.

For those who wish to learn more about the stories of the individual students we are working with, please sign up for our newsletter. If you have donated, you are already signed up and will begin receiving updates in March.

The dates for the Warrior-Scholar Project pilot program, hosted at Yale, are tentatively set for June 3 – June 10. The curriculum is still being finalized, so check back here for more updates!

Jesse and Nick
Co-Founders
Operation Opportunity

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