The DREAM Program, Poultney, Quarter 1, 2012-2013

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

Poultney DREAM Quarterly Report September-November 2012 Greetings from DREAM! In September, college students and youth returned to school and the exciting DREAM activities began! Green Mountain College and the town of Poultney had a wonderful quarter, and here is a summary of Poultney DREAM happenings from the Fall.

Highlights from the quarter include:  Mentors had a table at the town of Poultney’s Chili Cook-Off and served chili made by mentors and mentees.  Poultney mentees and their mentors took a special Saturday trip to the corn maze in Rutland and had a pizza party.  Remembering how Tropical Storm Irene affected Vermonters, Poultney mentors and mentees decided to spend a DREAM Wednesday decorating boxes and posters to collect donations for those affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Wednesdays:  Poultney mentors and mentees tie dyed white t-shirts and welcomed everyone back from the summer.  Mentees and mentors came together to brainstorm activities for the rest of the year.  Mentors cheered on mentees at their soccer games.  Mentors and mentees baked cookies and cheered on fellow mentees at a soccer game.  The Green Mountain College Quidditch team taught mentors and mentees how to play the game from the famous Harry Potter series.  Poultney mentors and mentees played group games, including zombie tag.  Mentors and mentees celebrated Halloween with costumes, a party, and trick-or-treating around campus.  Mentors and mentees explored the Green Mountain College campus in small groups.  DREAM youth and their mentors learned about hurricanes. They then decorated boxes and posters to encourage others to donate to people affected by Hurricane Sandy.  Mentees had one-on-one time with their mentors. Activities included visiting the college farm and exploring the campus library.

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

Special Events for Children and Mentors:  On November 3-4, one Poultney teen joined 60+ mentors and teens at the Teen Futures Retreat to hear about future opportunities available to them.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 website: http://www.dreamprogram.org/about/announcement/teen-futuresretreat-skyrocketing-future.

Capacity Building and Fundraising:  Returning mentors successfully recruited several new mentors from Green Mountain College and two new mentees from the town of Poultney!  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:  Green Mountain College mentors received training on Mentor Boundaries, Transportation Guidelines, and Child Abuse & Reporting Procedures to remind new and returning mentors alike about best practices in mentoring.

Camp:  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, who passed away last year.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.

The DREAM Program, Inc. P.O. Box 361 Winooski, VT 05404 (802) 338-8979 tel www.dreamprogram.org

Alumni Involvement:  Laura Kingston, a former Champlain College DREAM mentor has joined the Center for Service as a Campus Compact at Champlain College. 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 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.  On October 18th,DREAM launched its annual Alumni Appeal. Green Mountain College mentors participated in a Phone-A-Thon for the appeal, calling former mentors. 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 Support 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.

Office:  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.  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 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 “Local Program Reports” section of our website.

DREAM big, Ali Siegel Program Empowerment VISTA Alison@dreamprogram.org 802.681.3982