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The Village Mentoring Organization
Poultney DREAM Quarterly Report March – May 2014 Greetings from DREAM! The Poultney/Green Mountain College DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of activities. Though youth are sad to see their mentors leaving for summer break, they look forward to their return in September and have a whole summer of exciting programming to keep them busy! Here is a summary of all the Poultney DREAM happenings from the last quarter.
Highlights from the quarter include:
The Poultney group took a trip to see Frozen at the Tiny Theater one Saturday in March. Several members of DREAM’s Central Office surprised the Poultney group with a “raid” on April nd 2 to celebrate the Local Program’s accomplishments. The theme of the raid was based on the popular YouTube video, “What Does the Fox Say?” The Poultney Local Program celebrated their six graduating seniors at their Alumni Welcome th event on April 28 . The seniors learned about DREAM’s Alumni Organization while they decorated cookies at a dessert party! DREAM youth are excited for summer to begin, so they can visit Camp DREAM, and participate in activities around the community. They are especially excited to welcome back Samantha Abrahamsen for a second summer with Poultney DREAM.
Wednesdays:
Mentors and mentees played games in the gym on campus. The group spent one Wednesday building forts out of blankets, and then defended their forts during a game of capture-the-flag. Poultney mentors and mentees discussed the importance of listening and respecting one another. Afterwards, they had an ice cream party. Mentors and mentees had one-on-one time together. Before they split up, though, they had a surprise raid from the DREAM office! The group ate quite the feast of eggs, bacon, and pancakes one Wednesday, which they dubbed “breakfast day.” One Wednesday, the group played Apples to Apples and then took a trip to the GMC farm. Everyone particularly enjoyed visiting the new baby chicks. For the final DREAM Wednesday of the school year, the group came together to discuss issues of bullying. The group learned about different types of bullying, and mentors and mentees told stories of their experiences with bullying.
Special Events for Children and Mentors:
For this year’s culminating experience, the Poultney Local Program traveled up to Burlington, where they had a pizza party, visited the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, and competed in a scavenger hunt on Church Street. The DREAM Office hosted a Teen Identity Retreat April 4-5, where teens gathered in Burlington and participated in informative sessions about health and identity, talked with panelists from local organizations, had a Q+A with a Burlington Police Officer, tried out Zumba and made connections with teens from all over Vermont. DREAM welcomed 100 mentors and mentees into the Alumni Organization this quarter!
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org