The DREAM Program, Northwoods, Quarter 3, 2012-2013

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Northwoods DREAM Quarterly Report March – May 2013 Greetings from DREAM! This quarter Northwoods mentoring pairs rounded out the winter term of DREAMing and completed another successful spring term of mentoring. Please read below for more information about events and highlights for Northwoods mentors and youth this quarter.

Highlights from the quarter include: •

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On Friday, March 1, mentors and mentees celebrated the end of winter term with bowling, arcade games, and pizza at Lanes and Games in White River Junction for their culminating experience. This was a collaborative event with the Hollow Drive Local Program.

On March 29, Hollow Drive mentors joined their Dartmouth DREAM peers at a start of term meeting. Mentors discussed the Teen Identity Retreat, program budgets, High Adventure, and the term schedule.

The DREAM office welcomed ten Northwoods seniors to the Alumni Organization on May 10.

Northwoods mentors were awarded a $250 grant for the DREAM Alumni Council. The money was to be used for a ropes course adventure at Dartmouth College. Due to severe weather on May 25, this event was postponed until the summer term. Instead, the culminating experience this spring was an indoor picnic and small group activities on campus.

Mentor and co-chair Katie Gibson was elected to the DREAM Board of Directors.

DREAM would like to thank Katie Gibson for her hard work as co-chair this past year.

We look forward to continuing to work with co-chair Hannah Coleman this summer.

Fridays: • • • • •

There were no regular Fridays in March as mentors took their final exams and then enjoyed spring break.

Mentors met as a program on Friday, March 29 to prep for the spring term. They elected fundraising and culminating chairs to help organize the program during April and May. There were three regular DREAM Fridays in April. Mentoring pairs participated in oneon-one and small group activities on campus.

DREAM was cancelled on April 12 due to an unexpected ice storm.

On Friday, May 3, mentoring pairs participated in a reading event put on by Literacy in the Upper Valley. Literacy in the Upper Valley is a newly formed group of graduate and undergraduate students interested in increasing literacy levels of low-income youth in the Upper Valley. Mentors and youth read books together and then each mentee chose a book to bring home. The event concluded with ice cream sundaes for all.

Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org

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DREAM mentors and youth joined mentoring pairs from Big Brothers Big Sisters and Outdoor Leadership Experience for a Spring Fling on May 10. Activities included tie-dye, a pie throwing contest, a raffle, and a Frisbee toss.

There was no DREAM on Friday, May 17, as Dartmouth students participated in their spring weekend.

Mentoring pairs spent their last Friday together on May 24. Activities included racquetball, kickball, swimming, and baking for an on-campus bake sale fundraiser.

Special Events for Children and Mentors: •

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Northwoods mentors held a community dinner for DREAM families on April 29. The pasta dinner event drew a large turn-out and we thank the parents and youth who attended.

Twenty-five teens attended DREAM’s annual Teen Identity Retreat. This years retreat featured sessions on healthy relationships, a reflection on DREAM’s Theory of Change, and a hula-hooping tutorial led by DREAM alumna, Nicole Stevenson.

Mentoring pairs participated in two culminating experiences this quarter. The winter term concluded with a trip to the bowling alley. The original spring culminating plans to challenge youth at the ropes course and have a barbecue at Storrs Pond were cancelled due to inclement weather. Instead, mentoring pairs spent time together on campus.

Capacity Building and Fundraising: •

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Mentor pairs baked cookies, cupcakes, and brownies one Friday afternoon. Later that night mentors made $100 selling the baked goods to students on campus.

The DREAM Alumni Council granted $250 to the Northwoods Local Program to support their spring culminating event.

This year, DREAM was honored as the beneficiary of The Clothes Exchange (TCE). The Clothes Exchange is an annual event that is dedicated to turning clothing into cash to benefit the community. TCE collects new and gently used apparel from generous retailers and then sells it at bargain prices. The event on May 3-4 raised $8000 to support DREAM. A special thank you goes to the DREAM mentors, mentees, staff, board members, and volunteers who made the event a success.

As DREAM looks towards expansion, we have undertaken efforts to codify our programs. Mike Foote, Director of Strategy and Growth, is spearheading this work. This quarter the codification moved into its second stage, which is creating training and orientation materials for new offices so they can carry on the essentials of DREAM culture.

Mentor Training and Workshops: •

Mentors reviewed DREAM’s Boundaries and Guidelines and Dartmouth College’s mentoring code of conduct at the start of term meeting on March 29.

Camp: •

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Camp DREAM hosted three work days this spring. We were once again happy to host volunteers from IBM through the United Way’s Days of Caring program. Volunteers cleared trails, installed new signs, built an awning over the kitchen porch, and spruced up Camp’s gardens and drainage systems.

DREAM office staff began visiting families to sign youth up for summer sessions at Camp DREAM.

Alumni Involvement: • This year, DREAM’s Alumni Organization welcomed 73 new members from 11 Local

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Programs across Vermont and Massachusetts. Welcoming events were hosted for each Local Program to congratulate both mentees and mentors as they graduated from high school and college. Ten Northwoods mentors and one mentee were inducted into the Alumni Organization this spring.

The Teen Identity Retreat was a success in part due to the support of DREAM’s alumni volunteers: Paul Espina, Nicole Stevenson, Caludine Nkurinziza, and Susie Silva.

DREAM alumni Phil Ortego joined DREAM office staff on a relay team in the 2013 Burlington Marathon on May 26.

A group of DREAM alumni are running a RAGNAR relay race in West Virginia to support DREAM’s expansion efforts in Washington, D.C.

Office: • On March 7 Vermont staff members traveled to the Boston DREAM office for the annual

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two-day “sprinter” retreat. Discussion topics included incorporating Results Based Accountability, DREAM expansion to Philadelphia and Washington D.C., and redesigning DREAM’s annual mentor training event, DREAMstock.

Camp DREAM welcomed back Birchwood mentor Matt Karkut as the Adventure Program Coordinator.

On April 30 Vermont staff put aside their daily tasks to participate in the first annual Unbridled Innovation Day. Staff members researched topics such as youth obesity rates, DREAM’s carbon footprint, and best practices in training mentors.

On May 18-19 DREAM hosted its first ever combined staff, Board of Directors, and Alumni Council retreat at Camp DREAM. In addition to camp work projects, attendees participated in discussions focused on Results Based Accountability, high school graduation rates, staff and board structure, and coordinating priorities for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Vermont office staff had a very successful Adventure Teaching Day (ATD) on May 20. ATDs are an opportunity to continue to grow, learn, and bond as an organization.

The topics included how to best support mentees who are being bullied or are bullying

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others and codifying orientation materials for future offices. Staff then spent the afternoon at the Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center for an afternoon of sailing.

This quarter DREAM launched a new database. This platform will allow staff to more effectively monitor outcomes for DREAM youth, as well as track mentoring relationships and participation at office-led events.

Summer hiring is wrapping up for the season with nearly all positions filled. In June, DREAM will welcome 16 summer interns in Vermont and Boston who will organize incommunity programming and 6 staff who will run summer activities at Camp DREAM. DREAM said goodbye to Boston Program Director Chad Butt. Chad has been a staple in the DREAM office for over 8 years and we wish him all the best in his new role as Executive Director of Mobius, the state-wide mentoring organization in Vermont.

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 going to: http://dreamprogram.org/mentor-program/vermont/localprogram-reports.

DREAM big, Kate Piniewski Program Empowerment Director kate@dreamprogram.org 781.820.4838