The DREAM Program, Inc. 41 Dearborn St. Roxbury, MA 02119 (617) 699-8408 www.dreamprogram.org
November 15, 2012
The Orchard Gardens DREAM Update October 2012 The Orchard Gardens DREAM Program continued the Fall Semester with another great month of activities. DREAM Programming: 10/6 (15 mentees, 11 mentors): Everyone enjoyed a great day of field games at BU. 10/13 (14 mentees, 11 mentors): The group went back to BU for an afternoon at the Fit Rec, BU's gym. Matches were able to go swimming and play basketball. 10/20 (10 mentees, 15 mentors): The program held their first fundraiser of the year, selling T-shirts and bake goods to raise money for the program and for High Adventure. During breaks from fundraising, youth played games at BU Central and football by BU beach. 10/27 (10 mentees, 12 mentors): The youth participating in High Adventure had a meeting to discuss budgets, where they wanted to go and then spent the remainder of the afternoon researching things to do and places to stay. The younger youth held an egg drop! Program Development: New Mentor Recruitment: This month potential new mentors continued to visit programming and be interviewed. With many mentors graduating in the spring, the group is hoping to bring on a strong new class of mentors. New Mentees: Four new mentees were brought into the program. They all participated in summer programming on a regular basis and were excited to join school-year DREAM. Fundraising: o Bake Sale: On Parents’ Weekend, the group held a bake sale and sold DREAM tshirts. They brought in $300 which will be split between the general program and High Adventure. o Sweatpants: The mentors have designed DREAM sweatpants and are taking orders for them. Becoming a Student Group: DREAM at BU became a recognized student group this month! This will enable the program to better recruit new mentors and reserve space, among many other benefits. DREAMstock: On the 14th, the Boston DREAM office hosted the second annual Boston DREAMstock, an in-depth training for mentors. The event is a great opportunity for mentors from the Boston area DREAM programs to come together, discuss best practices, plan future collaborations, and have some fun. The day included the following workshops: DREAM's alumni organization, program development, the difference between a friend and a mentor, healthy relationships among youth, poverty literacy and the resources DREAM has to
offer. We were grateful to Orchard Gardens’ Boys and Girls Club for donating space and Ben and Jerry’s for donating ice cream. Programming Opportunities: Cranberry Bogs Harvesting (6 mentees): On Columbus Day, DREAM office staff, Chad Butt, Rachel Lieberman, and myself, along with two mentors and ten youth from Madison Park and Orchard Gardens drove down to Duxbury for a visit to a cranberry bog harvest. While in Duxbury, we met up with Sarah and Jeff Husted, friends of DREAM that sponsor a handful of adventure trips to the South Shore each year. The morning was spent playing in Sarah and Jeff’s backyard, exploring some forest near their house, and roasting marshmallows. After lunch, we headed to the bogs where we learned about dry harvesting cranberries, sorted cranberries by hand, and tasted freshly picked cranberries. Following our time at the cranberry bogs, we capped off the day with ice cream and a visit to an arcade. Celtics Game: Through Mass Mentor and the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, one match was able to attend the Celtics game on the 21st. High Adventure: Planning: The group held a planning meeting during DREAM on the 27th. The mentors presented the budget estimates for a trip to New York City and to Miami and facilitated a conversation about the group contract. The teens and mentors then spent the remainder of the afternoon researching activities and place to stay in each area. By the end of the day the group was leaning toward NYC as their preferred destination. Fundraising: To make the trip possible, the group will need to organize numerous fundraisers over the course of the year. They now have over $100 in their account from the bake sale they assisted with on the 20th. Parent Communication: To ensure that all of the parents were on board with their child's participation in High Adventure and to include them in the process, mentors went door-todoor in the community on Friday the 8th. They had great conversations with parents, explaining High Adventure, the goals of the program, and generating ideas for what should be in the participant contract. Community Collaboration: New Urban Mechanics: Chad met with Kevin McDonald, a student of the Harvard School of Design, on October 24th to discuss potential improvement to Edna Bynoe Park. Students from the Harvard School of Design are working with New Urban Mechanics at the Harvard Innovation Lab to collaborate with Roxbury neighborhood organizations as part of a class. Massachusetts Mentoring Partnership Summit: On October 17th Rachel Lieberman attended the first ever MMP Summit. Orchard Gardens Holiday Party: I attended planning meetings for the OG Holiday Party on October 15th and 26th.
Orchard Gardens Safety Meeting: I attended the Orchard Gardens safety meeting at 25 Ambrose St. on the 4th floor on October 20th. Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force: Chad and Rachel attended the Dudley/Roxbury Corridor Safety Task Force meeting on October 22nd.
DREAM Office: Massachusetts Promise Fellowship (MPF) Education Surveys: MPF is working to collect data about how youth (grades 4-12) view school and if their participation in DREAM affects their opinions. The majority of youth in the Orchard Gardens program have completed the MPF Education Survey. This survey has also served as a great tool to help DREAM update our database, which tracks the schools that our youth attend. In conjunction with the surveys, focus groups were conducted to learn more about subjects in which the youth were interested, levels of motivation while at school, personalized attitudes about school, and future plans for their academic careers. DREAM’s BIG Night Out: DREAM's Boston Finance Committee held a DREAM's Big Night Out, a fundraising event, at the Rattlesnake on the night of October 18th. Over 60 people attended and the night was a huge success.
Keep DREAMing! Chad Butt Program Director