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The Village Mentoring Organization
Pine Meadow/John Graham DREAM Quarterly Report December 2012-February 2013 Greetings from DREAM! This quarter marked the end of the fall semester, included “J-Term” (a shortened term just in January) and the beginning of thespring semester. Even though the mentors were away from school periodically, they still managed to pack in a lot of great DREAMing this quarter!
Highlights from the quarter include: •
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The culminating trip to Whirlie’s World was the last DREAM event of the fall semester. The group came together for a day there to celebrate all of the fun, enrichment, and learning that took place during the previous several months! DREAM office staff surprised the hard working mentors of the Pine Meadow/John Graham program with a “Happy DREAMentines Day” raid (a raid is basically a surprise event put on for any group of DREAMers). Office staff and DREAM alumni surprised the mentors at a meeting with cookies to decorate, candy, Valentines Day cards, and decorations, and the whole group spent some time recognizing one another for all their hard work and accomplishments within DREAM. Four Pine Meadow/John Graham youth and 6 of their mentors attended Winter Adventure Day this quarter, and it was a HUGE hit! As the group departed, echoes of “I can’t wait to come back to Camp DREAM” could be heard!
Weekly Programming with Children: • • • • • •
The group enjoyed a Friday of silliness and singing with karaoke. Several teen DREAM mentees joined their mentors at an annual Dance Marathon at Middlebury College to raise money for Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen. The DREAMers spent one rainy Friday having a game day, playing board games, ping pong, foosball, and indoor versions of tag games! Members of the dance and beat boxing campus clubs visited the DREAMers one Friday to give a dance/beat box workshop. The first Friday back to DREAM after the Middlebury College break was celebrated with a fun and energetic gym day. Middlebury College welcomed an influx of new students this February, students affectionately termed ‘Febs.’ As part of the welcoming process, there was an activity fair on campus one Friday which DREAM mentees and mentors attended to try and recruit new mentors for the program. Who can resist a cute kid asking you to play with them?
Special Events for Children and Mentors: •
The culminating trip to Whirlie’s World was the last DREAM event of the fall semester. The group came together for a day there to celebrate all of the fun, enrichment, and learning that took place during the previous several months!
Capacity Building and Fundraising: •
Mentors began some springtime recruitment efforts at an activities fair on campus for incoming freshman ‘Febs.’
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org