dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
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
Capacity Building and Fundraising:
DREAM is thrilled to share the start-up of a new DREAM program at UVM, paired with the Salmon Run Apartments in Burlington. The new mentors and mentees held their first DREAM Friday this quarter. DREAM was honored to receive a $5,000 unrestricted grant from Merchant’s Bank to support the Vermont DREAM Programs.
Camp:
This May three productive work days up in Fletcher, VT with the help of many volunteers from IBM helped prep Camp DREAM for summer!
Alumni Involvement:
The DREAM Alumni Organization is currently electing new leadership. Nominations flooded in for the two positions to be filled: Alumni Council President and Constitution Keeper. A major focus with alumni will be raising money to build facilities at Camp DREAM, improving the experience for our youth.
Office:
The DREAM office was a very busy place this quarter as hiring began for summer interns, as well as full time AmeriCorps members! This quarter, DREAM staff said good bye to Development Director Sandy Mervak. Sandy has left DREAM to go back to graduate school. The DREAM staff and board members gathered at Camp DREAM in May for a successful third annual retreat. New staff members all the way from Philadelphia and Boston were able to attend, making the retreat a very special one. The Elm St. office in Winooski got some TLC from Burlington DREAM staff this May with a major cleaning and sprucing up to get organized for summer!
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/local-program-reports.
DREAM big, Alison Siegel Program Empowerment Director VYT AmeriCorps VISTA alison@dreamprogram.org 802.681.3982