dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program
The Village Mentoring Organization
@DREAMprogram
Franklin Square –DREAM Quarterly Report January – March 2016
Greetings from DREAM! This quarter, Franklin Square mentors and mentees reunited after a long month apart. The group jumped back into the semester with exciting programming on campus and field trips! Highlights from the quarter include: • On Martin Luther King Jr Day, DREAM hosted a group of teens from across the state at Camp DREAM for a day of service and bonding. • Several Franklin Square mentors and mentees joined DREAMers from across the state at Winter Adventure Camp held at Camp DREAM on January 30 th. The group spent the day sledding, hiking in the snow, playing broomball on the frozen pond, and getting to know DREAMers from other programs! • DREAM held Teen Winter Adventure Camp at the beginning of the month during which mentors and mentees from across the state attended the Penguin Plunge and then went ice-skating! Several DREAM staff members, mentees, former camp counselors, and program alumni participated in the Penguin Plunge and dove into Lake Champlain! • Connor Flueckiger and Morgan Beck joined Allison Campbell and Jillian Kahn as Co Chairs for Franklin Square DREAM! • For DREAM’s Spring Teen Retreat, mentors and mentees from across the state gathered in Woodstock, Vermont to complete a morning of community service at the Billings Farm & Museum. The group went rock climbing and ate pizza during the afternoon! Fridays: • This quarter, mentees spent multiple Fridays having one on one time with their mentors. • Mentors and mentees went bowling at Champlain Lanes! • The group made pizza and decorated cookies on campus. • Mentors and mentees spent an afternoon playing basketball and dancing. • The group competed in a silly scavenger hunt around campus! • Franklin Square mentors and mentees spent their only Friday in March enjoying the surprisingly warm weather. The group played touch football and other games outside!
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: • This quarter DREAM held two Winter Adventure Camps (WAC), one for teens and one for 8-12 year olds o WAC for 8-12 year olds took place at Camp DREAM. We had a total of 117 attendees, including 42 mentors, 12 staff and volunteers, and 63 youth. The group enjoyed activities such as broomball, sledding, magical winter hikes, and of course, plenty of hot chocolate! o We had a total of 48 attendees for Teen WAC, including 21 teens, 15 mentors, 10 staff, and 2 volunteers. A team of 6 DREAMers, made up of staff, teens, and alumni, participated in the annual Penguin Plunge to benefit the Special Olympics, jumping into the freezing Lake Champlain waters while the rest of the group cheered them on! The team raised a total of $900 for the Special Olympics and won a facebook photo contest! After the plunge, the group spent the afternoon ice skating and bonding at Cairns Arena. • This January DREAM teens from across Vermont, including one Middlebury DREAM teen, convened at Camp DREAM on Martin Luther King day to do service, reconnect, enjoy some sledding, and share a meal. Capacity Building and Fundraising: • We had a strong annual fundraising drive, raising $326K in individual support, far exceeding dollars raised in previous appeals! Mentor Training and Workshops: • This quarter a small group of Vermont mentors, teen mentees, and staff made the trek to Boston to attend their annual DREAMstock, mentor conference for DREAM mentors. Our two teen mentee attendees, both from Franklin Square, hosted a Q&A panel for mentors, answering questions about their experiences and opinions on mentoring. Camp: • We are about 4/5 of the way to completing our capital campaign for Camp DREAM and plan on breaking ground this summer, permits allowing, for a large multi-purpose lodge. We hope this building will be heated and have a large great room, a nurses station with a bathroom, a working office with internet and phone access, and more!
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Work on the bathhouse facilities continue. The frame is up and we are well on the way to completing this project. Once finished the bathhouse will have both composting toilets and shower facilities. The youth could not be more excited to have shower at Camp DREAM soon!
Alumni Involvement: • This quarter we have begun recruiting Alumni Liaisons from current mentors in our programs. These Liaisons will work closely with the Program Liaisons from the Alumni Council to help keep alumni updated on current program happenings. Office: • DREAM has hired a Student Employee from Champlain College to be our Board Assistant. The Board Assistant will provide support and clerical assistance to our Board of Directors and CEO. 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, Julia Dillavou Program Empowerment Director, VYT AmeriCorps VISTA Julia@dreamprogram.org, 802.338.8979