Causes: Arts & Culture, Children & Youth, Education, Historical Organizations, Student Services, Youth Development Programs

Mission: Veterans heritage project (vhp) mission is to connect students with veterans in order to honor veterans, preserve america's heritage and develop future leaders. Vhp offers educational enrichment programming which partners with veterans as primary sources of history, to motivate and inspire students to stay in school and become responsible active citizens. Our programs are certified character education programs and aligned with arizona's college and career readiness standards for english language, arts and literacy in history/socials studies. Vhp reaches hundreds of middle school, high school and college students across arizona; thousands of additional students via classroom lectures, and growing numbers of wwii, korea, vietnam, cold war, iraq & afghanistan veterans each year.

Programs: Chapter program-teachers volunteer as vhp chapter advisors at their schools, to help facilitate our after-school oral history project-based learning. Vhp students conduct and videotape veteran interviews, write essays documenting the veterans' story, conduct related historical research, and obtain the veterans' copy approval. Chapters utilize design software and cloud technology to assemble the final essays and collaborate in the publication of regional editions of our hardbound book, since you asked (sya). The videotaped interviews and the books become a permanent contribution to the libary of congress. Vhp student authors are the single largest contributors to this congressional program, with 1,824 veteran stories by 1,779 youth. Chapters engage with their communities in the organization of regional community events to honor their veteran partners and present the completed sya book for signing and distribution. Veterans describe the process as "healing- and "cathartic- and ninety-percent say that the program enabled them to begin a dialogue with their family about their military experience. Students are prepared for continued academic and professional success through the development of listening, writing, critical thinking, collaboration, technology and public speaking skills. One hundred percent of participating students graduate from high school and ninety-five percent continue on to college or military service.

veteran lecture series-veterans continue to share first person histroical accounts and lessons of personal responsibility through in-school oral history lectures so that additional students can benefit from the enriched educational experience.

civic engagement opportunities-throughout the year vhp chapters work with veteran organizations statewide in support of veterans day and memorial day celebrations, civic events, community service activities and presentations on lessons learned through the vhp experience.

scholarship-vhp awards college scholarships via essay contests, which ask students to describe personal impacts from veterans' oral history and the vhp program. Vhp also partners with the arizona veterans' hall of fame society who offers three additional scholarships for vhp students.