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The Village Mentoring Organization
The Madison Park Village DREAM Update February 2014 The Madison Park Village program had a fun filled February! They finished their spring recruitment and had four full Fridays of activities. DREAM Programming: 2/7 (25 mentees, 25 mentors): On Friday the group split up into small groups. Activities included going to the game room, ice skating, and visiting the Children’s Museum. Mentees who could not attend on Friday participated in one-on-one activities with their mentors. 2/14 (21 mentees, 17 mentors): The girl mentees made smoothies, Valentine’s Day cards, and friendship bracelets. Some of the boy matches went to the Curry Student Center to get a snack and play pool, while others did one-on-one activities. 2/21 (19 mentees, 18 mentors): The group participated in several small group and one-onone activities. Activities included bowling, learning Chinese, going to the Northeastern gameroom, playing basketball, and getting dinner in the dining hall. 2/28 (23 mentees, 21 mentors): On Friday the girl mentees went to the Community Center for show and tell, games, and healthy snacks. All mentors and mentees were asked to bring a show-and-tell item they could share to teach the group a little something about themselves. The younger boys went to the game room and the older boys played basketball. Mentees who did not attend on Friday participated in one-on-one activities with their mentors.
Program Development: Recruitment: The program has officially taken on eight new mentors this semester. They hope to recruit a few new youth before the end of the semester. Background Checks: Mentors recruited last semester are almost completely background checked. Background checks will begin on newly recruited mentors in March. Fundraising: The program held a fundraiser at California Pizza Kitchen in the Prudential Center on February 27.th Matching: The program is in the midst of matching mentors that were recruited last semester. DREAMstock: Mentors attended DREAMstock, DREAM’s annual mentor training, on February 22nd. Mentors from Northeastern, Tufts, Harvard, and Boston University were all present for a day full of workshops, networking, and fun. Workshops included cultural competency, age-specific mentoring, purposeful programming, and diverse recruitment. All mentors were encouraged to continue networking with each other outside of
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DREAMstock and take the knowledge they learned back to their respective programs. Additionally, co-chairs arrived two hours early to participate in a session dedicated to exchanging ideas across programs and addressing the issue of mentor retention. Community Collaboration: February Vacation Programming in Madison Park Village: In conjunction with the Resident Services Coordinator of MPV, DREAM hosted a movie day on February 18th featuring Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked and popcorn. On Wednesday, February 19th, DREAM also hosted an activity making Loom Bands. There were several youth in attendance and some of those in attendance also participate in DREAM. DREAM Office: Teen Program: This month I met with Northeastern mentors about the DREAM teen program. I am working to recruit one to two mentors per program to help organize a teen wide activity on March 28th. South Boston Local Program: University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston has been selected as the partner school for our new community in South Boston: Old Colony. Mentor recruitment has begun and will continue into March. Teen Employment Guide: The 2014 teen employment guide was distributed to eligible youth. The DREAM Office is hosting optional office hours for those interested in receiving more assistance with resumes or applying to jobs within the city.
Keep DREAMing! Katie Purcell Program Empowerment Director Massachusetts Promise Fellow Katie@dreamprogram.org