The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org
Elm Street DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2012 Greetings from DREAM! The Elm Street DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of DREAM activities. The children were sad to see the mentors leave for winter break but are looking forward to their return in January. Here is a summary of all the Elm Street DREAM Program happenings from the last quarter. Highlights from the quarter include: • On September 30th a group of Elm Street Mentors and Teens hiked a portion of the Long Trail as part of the Catamountain Classic. The event was in honor of Elm Street mentor Avi Kurganoff. Other clubs from UVM also volunteered by hiking their own sections of the Long Trail. This fundraiser helped to set up a scholarship for a DREAM teen to attend an Outward Bound Program. The event planners hope to make this an annual fundraiser to keep the scholarship available to DREAM teens in the future. • This year, Elm Street DREAM partnered with Riverside DREAM to host the annual Chili Cook-off, which raised $222 for both programs. • The Elm Street program welcomed Alumna Steph Baer as their program partner. The South Burlington DREAM Office also welcomed alumni Caitlin Patey, Nicole Stevenson, and Laura Kingston as Burlington-area Program Partners. • Three Elm Street mentors attended DREAMstock, the South Burlington DREAM office’s annual mentor training event. This year’s event featured sessions on: being a co-chair, how to be a mentor, working with teens, open space opportunities, and behavior management. • Four Elm Street teens attended the Teen Futures Retreat along with two Elm Street mentors. Teens learned about preparing for college, summer opportunities, and applying for jobs, all while bonding with other DREAM teens from around the state Friday Activities: • Elm Street kicked off a new semester of mentoring with a barbeque at Oakledge Park. Mentors and mentees played lots of fun yard games like Frisbee and tag. • Mentors took the kids down to the waterfront for a day of fun in the sun. Mentors and mentees competed in a watermelon seed-spitting contest that was tons of fun. • DREAM and the UVM Outing Club teamed up to lead an afternoon of survival skills at Centennial Woods in preparation for the Catamountain Classic. Mentors and mentees learned about navigation, fire building, and plant identification. • The programs split up for one-on-ones to relax before a big Saturday of hiking at the Catamountain Classic. • Mentors and mentees got lost at Sam Mazza’s Corn Maze.