The DREAM Program, Pine Meadow Peter Coe, Quarter 1, 2015-2016

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Pine Meadow & Peter Coe DREAM Quarterly Report June-August 2015 Greetings from DREAM! The DREAMers of Pine Meadow and Peter Coe had a wonderful summer filled with adventures, learning, and creemees! Read on to learn of all the great happenings in Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM from this summer.

Highlights from the quarter include: • Mentors and mentees wrapped up school year DREAM with an exciting culminating event to Burlington and Camp DREAM. • This summer DREAM youth had a blast with our Community Intern Kendra Coleman, who ran activities in and around the communities!

• Several Middlebury DREAMers attended Camp DREAM for a week this summer and they had a blast!

• Mentors Kristen, Mary, and Carolynn all graduated, and mentee Benn graduated from Middlebury Union High School in June. Benn started at Castleton State College in late august as a freshman!

Fridays: • Middlebury mentors and mentees celebrated the end of the school year with a culminating event. They spent a beautiful, sunny day at the Burlington waterfront.

They started in the ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center, then had a picnic in Waterfront Park. After some frisbee and dipping their toes in the (still frigid) lake, the group went to Pizza Putt in Colchester for some mini-golf, arcade games, and, of course, PIZZA! The group finished their night at Camp DREAM, in Fletcher, Vermont, with a bonfire, s’mores, and scary stories! Everyone had a blast and was glad to spend the night at DREAM’s wonderful outdoor space!

• Kendra and the DREAMers enjoyed several swimming trips this summer, adventuring to Lake Dunmore, the Falls of Lana, and Silver Lake.

• Kendra and the kids rode their bikes to the local playground at Mary Hogan School and played lots of games.

• Kendra used the community kitchen at Peter Coe Village Apartments to bake pies with the kids. The next day, Kendra and a group of kids held a bake sale and raised $80!

• Kendra took a group of kids to the movies to see the Minions movie as an end-ofsummer celebration!

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

Special Events for Children and Mentors: •

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For the fourth year in a row, DREAM staff took several teens to Maine for a week of living on a sailboat and learning the ropes (pun intended) of sailing in the ocean. Captain John Reid once again manned the helm, and we are grateful for his generosity in spearheading these trips and providing the boat and instruction, but most of all opening his heart to DREAMers and exhibiting an extreme degree of patience! Some of the highlights of the trips were giving teens the opportunity to drive and steer the boat, trying new foods prepared in unique ways in the ship’s small galley, using a bathroom on a boat (a very interesting experience to be sure), playing BananaGrams (word game), learning sailing terminology, swimming, exploring and visiting barrier islands, and living five days away from cell phones and other technologies, which is so important for these formative experiences to have their greatest impact. Most of all, each sailing session provides the opportunity for teens to learn and challenge themselves in many ways they never thought possible!

This quarter eight Vermont teens joined DREAM teens from Boston and Vermont on a College Road Trip adventure to Washington, DC. In addition to college tours, the group also went to the movies, an aquarium, sightseeing, and so much more. A highlight of the trip was a visit to Southern Vermont College, where they were allowed to spend the night in the dorms to better experience college life!

Capacity Building and Fundraising: •

This summer our development team raised $53,448 through our summer appeal aimed at supporting our summer programs. This amount exceeded our $50,000 goal and greatly exceeded the amount we’ve raised in the past!

Camp: •

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This summer we had 72 campers over the course of 5 weeks, hailing from all corners of Vermont as well as 6 kids and 4 adults who made the trek all the way from Boston! For 30 of the total campers, it was their first time at Camp DREAM, and we hope they come back next year! Highlights of the activities we did: hiking, swimming, canoeing, gardening, volunteering at a local farm, nutrition education, environmental education activities, discussions about their futures, cooking, eating delicious meals, sleeping en plein air, singing, games, performing in a talent show, and so much more!!!

We are also thankful for the 11 teens who served as Counselors-in-Training this summer! This program gives DREAM teens an opportunity to spend an extra

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week at camp with elevated responsibilities. CITs lead activities and help with the younger campers, and they earn some money in the process!

Many thanks to our volunteers and Guest Rock Stars! These people took a day or a week off from their busy lives to share their skills and stories at Camp DREAM. They are Paul Espina, Oliver Smith, Erin Knight, and Sophie Halpin.

Office: •

This quarter we welcomed three new AmeriCorps members to our Vermont program team. Kelsea Moulton, Julia Dillavou, and Tiffany Trowbridge-Bernard join the team as Program Empowerment Directors (PEDs). All three members come to DREAM with a wealth of experience and DREAM is thrilled to have them on board!

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/mentoring/vermont/local-program-reports.

DREAM big, Sarah Caliendo Program Director scaliendo@dreamprogram.org 802-338-8979