dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
The Putnam Gardens DREAM Update April 2014 The Putnam Gardens Program had a great April. The new matches got to get to know each other through doing small group and one-on-one activities throughout the month. The program worked hard to continue fundraising for their trip to New York City in May DREAM Programming: 4/4 (9 mentees, 11 mentors): On Friday, the matches broke up into one-on-ones and small groups. Activities included drawing, eating dinner, and attending various off campus events. These events included the Big Apple Circus, an ice skating show at BU, and a hip-hop show hosted at MIT. 4/12 (10 mentees, 9 mentors): On Saturday a good portion of the program participated in a Community Service Event at the Cambridge Community Center. The attendees helped paint inside the building and had a great time. Matches that were unable to attend on Saturday did one-on-one activities. Activities included attending Africa Night at Harvard, playing basketball in the park, visiting the Cambridge Public Library, and doing homework together. 4/18 (11 mentees, 14 mentors): The group did one-on-one programming. Several matches enjoyed the nicer weather by playing in the park, going for walks, or challenging each other in basketball and soccer. Other matches went to the Big Apple Circus, decorated clothes, and watched a movie. 4/25 (9 mentees, 9 mentors): The majority of matches spent the week baking for the bake sale the program hosted on Sunday, April 27th. It was originally planned for Saturday, April 26th but was postponed due to weather. Matches unable to participate in the bake sale did one-on-one activities. Program Development: Fundraising for Culminating Experience: The program held a bake sale during Harvard Visitas, a large event where incoming freshman come to visit the campus. New Positions: After assessing the program this semester, the group voted to change/add a few positions. The program changed the role of secretary to include the budgetary obligations of the traditional treasurer. The treasurer position will now focus solely on fundraising. The program also added a Social Chair who is responsible for integrating new mentors into the program and leading mentor bonding events throughout the semester. Elections: The mentors held their elections during the last meeting of the month. Officers will be: o Returning Co-chair: Ashleigh Inglis o Incoming Co-chair: Mathew Murray o Secretary: Alex Young o Treasurer: Trent Nelson
dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
o Recruitment Co-chairs: Kathy Jung and Gianna Lowery o Social Chair: Oriana Wang
DREAM Participants: Mentors: There are currently 15 active DREAM mentors. Youth: In March, 13 youth participated in DREAM. The program welcomed four new youth into the school year DREAM program this quarter. The following is a list of youth participants by household: DREAM Office: Teen Program: The original teen event planned for April 18th was postponed due to weather and scheduling conflicts. Instead, a group of female mentees and mentors from the Madison Park/Northeastern University Local Program came to the DREAM Office for a screening of “The Halls: Class Dismissed,” a web-series produced by the Boston Public Health Commission focusing on teen dating relationships. The group watched all eight episodes and the screening was intermixed with discussion about the heavy topics included in the show. School Engagement Focus Group: I conducted a school engagement focus group with seven youth in our Somerville Housing Authority/Tufts University Local Program. The grades of participants ranged from 4th to 6th. Results from this focus group will be included in the composite analysis the Mass Promise Fellowship will publish based on the data from all 40 host sites. South Boston Local Program: Recruitment for mentors at University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston continued this month. Already recruited mentors have been working with Jason to table at the campus and recruit more mentors. The mentoring program will officially pilot in Fall 2014. Summer Intern Hiring: We finalized our hiring for our Summer Community Interns and have two amazing students onboard and excited for the summer. Throughout the month of May, Jason and I will be putting together our summer calendar of activities.
Keep DREAMing! Katie Purcell Program Empowerment Director Mass Promise Fellow/Americorps Katie@dreamprogram.org
dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization