"Operation Survival"

"Operation Survival" has provided myriad program services for neighborhood youth ages 12-18 for nearly 15 years. Historically perceived to be a basketball program, basketball has merely been the proverbial "carrot" with which to attract young people to the other more significant program services provided. Primarily, academic monitoring and assistance, study tables, career planning, Life Skills and Personal Asset Development, etc. have always been at the heart of the program, which funders support for its measurable accomplishments in diverting youth from gang involvement and other unhealthy choices.

A program service component emerging from the institutional realities of the local school system policies addressing young people who struggle in the typical school setting is something we call "Half Full Prep." Starting as early as sixth grade, some students are released from school after only a half day, reportedly due to behavior issues. Some youth are referred to complimentary programs such as an anger management class or the MAC (Mack Achievement Center), again for a half day of schoolwork. We find these students arriving at the Bray Center during a time of the day when we would not normally allow school-aged kids to be here, well, because they're supposed to be in school. Since they are officially released, however, and we do check on the legitimacy of each claim, we do not turn them away. Rather we enjoin them in initial conversation about the reasons for their status, the steps required to achieve re-entry into the full school day, and how we can work together with them to reach that goal. Sometimes this involves academic tutoring (though many of them are quite academically gifted, especially in math we find), and more often it requires personal asset development strategies to reinforce the individuals ability to fend off the temptations of taking "short-cuts" or making excuses for not doing the basics required to remain in school. An eye toward a future of productive and satisfying adulthood keeps the program focused on academic accomplishment, eventual gainful employment, and social responsibility among participants.

We all know that the program produced an NBA All Star, but few know of the hundreds of college graduates in countless professions who return to acknowledge the staff for the impact the program had on their success. Fewer still know about those who at minimum graduated from high school or simply completed a GED, allowing them to take classes at Gateway or use the remains of their hoop dream to go on to a junior college on scholarship. And then there are those who veered away from the program, wound up unemployed, disconnected, or incarcerated, then wrote or visited us saying, "If only I had listened to you when I had the chance." Given the agency programs offered, we are able to direct many "Operations Survival" participants into the pre-college preparation program activities also offered at the Bray Center through GEAR UP (described above). Originally funded years ago by Youth Fair Chance, then picked up by Department of Corrections, the program is currently supported by the State of WI Office of Justice Assistance.