The DREAM Program, Pine Meadow/John Graham Court, Quarter 2, 2014-2015

dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

Pine Meadow/John Graham Court DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2014 Greetings from DREAM! Fall brought beautiful foliage and great weather, which DREAMers took full advantage of this quarter. Though the semester is drawing to a close, mentees are excited for the coming holiday season, especially the time off and promise of snow. Here is a summary of Pine Meadow/John Graham Court DREAM happenings from Quarter 2: Highlights from the quarter include:  Middlebury College mentors returned to campus excited for another year of DREAM programming!  Six new mentors and two new mentees have joined the Pine Meadow/John Graham Court DREAM program for 2014-2015!  New mentors have hit the ground running, engaging with mentees and helping to create exciting activities for Fridays!  The mentor-led Homework Help Club had its most successful semester yet!

Many mentees took advantage of this academic assistance offered four days per week.  Mentors are planning to celebrate the end of the semester with mentees by attending Middlebury’s annual holiday festival.

Friday Activities:  For the first Friday of the semester, mentors hosted a semester kick-off barbecue at Pine Meadow, full of food and fun times!  Mentors and mentees also went to Happy Valley Orchards for apple picking and apple cider doughnuts.  During one Friday, mentees came to campus and took advantage of the sunshine, playing lots of games outside!  On a beautiful fall afternoon, mentors and mentees went for a hike to Falls of Lana, which ended in a picnic.  During another Friday afternoon, mentors provided snacks and hosted games for the mentors in the Pine Meadow community.  For Halloween, mentors brought snacks and played games in the community.

Then, the following day they dressed up and brought mentees to campus to trickor-treat.

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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Mentors brought their mentees into Middlebury town center for snacks and hot chocolate, and some kids even ate ice cream (despite the cold weather). Then they returned to campus for some group games.

Special Events for Children and Mentors:  DREAM staff were excited to host teens for our annual Teen Futures Retreat! Teens from all over the state got together to talk about their future plans regarding educational goals and career choices. Teens participated in a small service project at a local farm.  The Chittenden County Mentoring Network hosted mentors from several different Chittenden County mentoring organizations to honor their hard work and dedication. DREAM mentors were invited to attend the function which was held in Burlington.

Mentor Training and Workshops:  For our annual mentor conference, DREAM Stock, we got together at Bolton Valley with mentors from all of our Vermont programs. This year we were excited to have two Philadelphia mentors attend. Mentors attended informational sessions, collaborated with mentors from different programs, and made exciting plans for enhancing their local programs!

Camp:  This year Camp DREAM turned 10 years old! To celebrate the milestone DREAM held a birthday bash at Camp in Fletcher, VT. Staff, DREAM alumni, mentors and youth, and friends of DREAM enjoyed fresh baked flatbread pizza, games, and an informational discussion on the history of Camp DREAM and what the years to come will look like!

Alumni Involvement:  We are very excited to announce that alumnus Matt Karkut has taken the position of Camp Programming and Operations Manager. Matt was a Champlain College mentor and spent a summer with DREAM as an Adventure Programming Coordinator. While we were sad to say good bye to Rosetta Morse, who moved on to join Burton's Chill Program, we are thrilled to have someone with such energy and passion for getting youth outdoors!

Capacity Building and Fundraising:

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DREAM received a grant from the Green Mountain Fund to help in sustaining and expanding programming at Johnson State College. DREAM also received a grant from Hills and Hollow to aid in the continued support of our programming at Green Mountain College. DREAM was honored to receive a generous grant from the Donley Foundation to aid in delivery of general programming to all of our Vermont programs.

Our development team met in Philadelphia for a biannual retreat. The team was able to discuss what the coming years will look like for DREAM and got to see the Philadelphia programs in action.

DREAM's annual appeal has kicked off. Staff have been working hard to get letters out to donors. Mentor's also contributed by calling alumni and thanking them for all the work they have done for DREAM and the support they continue to give!

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, Sarah Caliendo Program Director scaliendo@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979