The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org
Pine Meadow/John Graham DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2012 Greetings from DREAM! The Pine Meadow/John Graham DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of DREAM activities. The mentees 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 Pine Meadow/John Graham DREAM happenings from the last quarter.
Highlights from the quarter include: • This quarter the mentors came together for a day long mentor retreat, where the group spent time on team building activities, reassessing their program, and creating a mentor contract. The day was a huge success and everyone got a lot out of it! • One of the most popular Fridays this quarter was a ‘science day.’ The group invited a Middlebury College professor to lead them in exciting and educational science projects, including making instant ice cream with liquid nitrogen! • Early in the semester mentees joined their mentors at Activities Fair on the Middlebury campus, where they all worked together to recruit new mentors!
Friday Activities: • The group kicked off DREAM for the fall semester with a barbeque at Pine Meadow. • One rainy Friday was spent playing board games and watching a movie. • The DREAMers hit a nearby orchard for an exciting apple picking bonanza! • For Halloween, the group came together for a spooky party! • One of the most popular Fridays this quarter was a ‘science day.’ The group invited a Middlebury College professor to lead them in exciting and educational science projects, including making instant ice cream with liquid nitrogen! • Mentors and mentees bonded together over pottery one Friday. The group hit the ceramics studio on the Middlebury campus, where the mentees were especially excited to use the pottery wheel! • One Friday was spent horseback riding, with several mentees pushing themselves into their growth zone and riding horses even though they were nervous!
The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org
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The DREAMers enjoyed a Friday of rock climbing and, again, many pushing themselves into their growth zone and climbing higher than they thought they could!
Special Events for Children and Mentors: • Several Pine Meadow/John Graham mentors attended DREAMstock, the 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.
Capacity Building and Fundraising: • Early in the semester mentees joined their mentors at Activities Fair on the Middlebury campus, where they all worked together to recruit new mentors! • On November 19th, DREAM launched its Annual Appeal! Keep a look out for your letter and please consider donating. So far the annual appeal has raised $45k from 73 donors. • Mike Foote re-joined the DREAM office as the Director of Strategy and Growth in early October and will be spearheading expansion efforts into Philadelphia.
Mentor Training and Workshops: • This quarter the mentors came together for a day long mentor retreat, where the group spent time on team building activities, reassessing their program, and creating a mentor contract. The day was a huge success and everyone got a lot out of it!
Camp and Teens: • Over 60 DREAM teens and mentors came together for the first annual Teen Futures Retreat, where the teens learned about preparing for college, summer opportunities, and applying for jobs, all while bonding with other DREAM teens from around the state. If you would like more information, check out this article from our Alumni Newsletter, the Blue Wagon, http://www.dreamprogram.org/about/announcement/teen-futures-retreat-skyrocketingfuture. • Camp Work Days and Days of Caring occurred in late September and early October. Approximately 100 volunteers assisted staff in various work projects around camp in order to clean up from the summer and prep camp for Winter Adventure Camp in January. • On September 30th, mentors and alumni joined DREAM Staff for the DREAMstock Camp Work Day. • 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 mentor Avi Kurganoff.
The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org
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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. Camp DREAM has partnered with Yestermorrow, a sustainable design school, to create a sustainable design plan for the new bathroom facilities and kitchen at Camp DREAM. Camp DREAM was proud to be awarded a VT Buildings and General Services Recreational Facilities grant to help fund the new septic system that will be installed at camp.
Alumni Involvement: • Laura Kingston, a former Champlain College DREAM mentor has joined the Champlain College Center for Service as a Campus Compact. In this position she is also serving as a program partner for DREAM. The South Burlington DREAM Office also welcomed alumni Steph Baer, Nicole Stevenson, and Caitin Patey as Burlington-area Program Partners. • The South Burlington DREAM office welcome alumni volunteers: Danielle Jenkins, Andrew Lassiter, Nicole Stevenson, Phil Ortego, Rachel Kauppila, Jenna Rae Genest, Caitlin Patey, Paul Espina, and Megan Kerrigan as volunteers at DREAMstock and the Teen Futures Retreat. • This fall DREAM launched our annual Alumni Appeal. For the appeal, Middlebury College mentors came together to make phone calls to alumni from their program. Being a relatively new program, Middlebury had a goal of receiving donations from 5 alumni. The group surpassed their goal, receiving donations from 7 alumni! Go Pine Meadow/John Graham alumni! Overall, the Alumni Appeal has raised $33k from 196 donors. • Two former DREAM mentors, Kate Piniewski and Alison Siegel joined the DREAM Support Staff as Program Empowerment VISTAs serving in the White River Junction and Bennington offices. • DREAM Staff began the process of engaging with DREAM alumni in Philadelphia, PA and Washington, DC to gauge opportunity for DREAM to have impact in these new cities.
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DREAM launched its new website in October, check it out at www.dreamprogram.org. Mike Ewan, former South Burlington DREAM office member, has recently transitioned into a new role as the Program Director, Advanced Support working with all of the DREAM offices. The DREAM office welcomed back former Program Empowerment VISTA Sarah Caliendo as the Program Director, Direct Support for the South Burlington DREAM office. DREAM has recently extended its support network through opening a DREAM office in White River Junction at the Northwoods Community.
The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org
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DREAM moved one step closer to attaining its goal of opening programs at all the State Colleges in Vermont by launching a program at Johnson State College this past Fall.
Thank you for your ongoing support of DREAM. If you would like additional or more detailed information, please contact me by email or by phone. You can always look back at past reports or other programs’ reports by visiting the “program reports” section of our website.
DREAM big, Sarah Caliendo Program Director scaliendo@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979