e CEL

Mission Statement: Provide educational assistance to military families in order to address the systemic challenges that military children face through changing curriculums, school systems, teachers, and peers.

OPERATION

e CEL
Operation Excel is an extension of the organization Wish For Our Heroes whose mission is to help the needs of active duty military members. Operation Excel was created to address some of the abundant shortfalls of educational systems that military families face due to relocations and deployments. We will strive to create an interactive network of volunteers, parents, and school administrators that will help reduce the systematic challenges military families face. To do this, we will create programs for students to EXCEL academically, provide a place for parents to nd resources and support, and challenge school administrations to nd solutions to curriculum imbalances faced by military students.

OPERATION

Jeff Wells- President

The purpose of our Foundation is very simple reward our brave men and women who make so many sacrifices for our great nation each and every day. There are many military-focused non-profit organizations, but the majority of them are geared toward extreme circumstances severely wounded, amputees, burn victims, soldiers killed in action (KIA). The purpose of the -Wish for Our Heroes Foundation is not only to reward soldiers falling into these extreme categories, but also reward soldiers and their families dealing with the normal strains of military life and deployment. Most American citizens know someone associated with the Armed Forces and/or the family of an American soldier. Think of all the sacrifices they make, and think about what we could do to make their lives a little more enjoyable what can we do to bring a smile to their faces, to give them a small break from the trials, tribulations and strains of their daily lives?

www.wish4ourheroes.org

Roughly 1.1 million school-age children in the United States are military dependents, with parents in the armed forces A military dependent child will move approximately 6-9 times before they graduate from high school. Approximately 93% of military dependent students attend a public supported school Of the 86,000 students attending a Department of Defense school (DoD), 70% are located overseas Providing for special education is the most challenging for school districts Only 2 out of 8 schools in the report maintained a high quality program for gifted and talented students. What the study showed was that $/military student schools received from the government was often placed in the general funds making it hard to track effectiveness of the dollars spent. The study did not show the level of effects on students in non-military connected schools
Source: June 2011- Department of Defense Educational Option and Performance of Military Connected School Districts

 Children of active duty military members Missouri and Texas locations for pilot 2 one hour tutoring sessions for up to 40
weeks

Operation Excel Tutoring Program-Pilot Basics

8 week and 20 week also options Extended tutor time is designed to EXCEL
children beyond just passing

Program Levels
8 weeks
-missed information due to relocation -struggles with single units -fallen behind due to parents deployment -any student from the 8 week program that did not meet their goals and needs continued help

20 weeks
- struggle with subjects going from one unit to another

40 weeks - long term difculties

such as reading comprehension -students identied as gifted and talented or high ability -any student from 20 week program that did not meet their goals and needs continued help

Note: Students will be placed in one of the above programs based on their needs. Placement will not be limited to the above criteria

e CEL
In response to parent feedback while conducting research for our tutoring program, we discovered a need to develop an interactive website that brings together all the parties involved in making successful decisions that lead to a great educational experience. Included in these parties are parents, educators, and students. Other parties, such as community leaders, also contribute to a successful education. However, our focus will be placed on students, parents, and educators in relation to the challenges military families face. After speaking with representatives from each party, we have begun working on a way to showcase positive examples, as well as struggles and concerns for each party. Each party will have a page devoted to sharing their voice. We hope to accomplish open dialogue among parties while shining a light on the tremendous amount of youth talent that is currently being underutilized. There is a vast amount of websites with great information available for each group. At times, this seems overwhelming, especially for families who face constant change. Our goal is to bring all that great information to one place in a format that easy to follow. We want to share resources and guide others to great programs that fit their educational needs whatever they may be. Through the development process, we came to a conclusion that is now the philosophy by which Operation Excel operates. This philosophy is It takes a village to raise a village. Everyone benefits from improving educational standards. By focusing solely on the concept that It takes a village to raise a child, we loose sight of the fact that the village is constantly growing along side the child. In order to maintain a healthy village, everyone must share in the responsibility of finding ways to improve it. Due to the constant change military families face, obtaining quality eduction becomes a difficult process as there are many inconsistencies in practices and legislative rules. As an organization that works to alleviate the challenges of military families, we feel we have a responsibility to mitigate these difficulties to the best of our ability. Our tutoring program and interactive website is the first step in our commitment to improving education standards for military children. As we developed the Student sections, we decided the best format for this was to put it in the hands of the students themselves. What better way to make improvements for them. Therefore, we will create a committee of students that represent all avenues of military families who will be responsible for the content that is added to these pages. We will incorporate virtual technology for study sessions and town hall meetings to discuss key issues. Also, we have already started a Student Voices campaign where different media will be used to express their thoughts and emotions as it relates to their educational experiences. All Student Voices material will be created and edited by students. The stories will be based on the experiences of a military connected student while the work, whether it is writing, filming, editing, etc, will be open to any student looking to explore and establish viable job skills. Our first video from our Student Voices campaign can currently be viewed on You Tube at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqon_atIQis Please take a minute to view this video. While viewing, please keep in mind that it was created by a 16 year old military connected student and edited by a 17 year old non-military connected student. What this showcases is not only the experiences of the military connected student, but also the developing of job skills and talent of youth

OPERATION

The next few pages will showcase our beginning concept for our interactive website

Ways School Administrations Can Help

Provide helpful information about enrollment process Contribute information for the website that parents might need to know Communicate with other administrators whose students could benet from the program Direct us to other benecial programs or websites

Help those running the program understand the logistics involved with working with public schools Create videos for the website representing teacher or administrator viewpoints. Exampleteacher can demonstrate how to conduct a specialized lesson plan.

Contact Information

Jeff Wells President

jwells@wishforourheroes.org

Marcy Barlow Program Lead (317) 442-1354

w4oh.operationexcel@gmail.com