The DREAM Program, Pine Meadow/Peter Coe, Quarter 2, 2015

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Pine Meadow/Peter Coe –DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2015 Greetings from DREAM! The Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM program has finished up another wonderful winter of activities. Here is a summary of all the Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM happenings from the last quarter.

Highlights from the quarter include:  Middlebury College Freshman teamed up with DREAM mentees and staff as part of their freshman orientation experience. The group played games on campus and also challenged themselves on the UVM ropes course!  DREAM co-chairs and leaders joined up with Program Director Sarah to knock on doors at the newly renovated Peter Coe Village apartments to recruit new kids.  This quarter the program welcomed a new mentee, a 6 year old boy, to the program!

Fridays:       

The students opened up the semester with a pizza party at Pine Meadow.

One beautiful Fall Friday was spent apple picking at the nearby Happy Valley Orchard.

Many of the kids knew the orchard well and took pride in showing their mentors around!

One Friday was spent on campus playing running games outside and also games in the campus game room DREAMers spent one Friday making amazing creations at the Middlebury College pottery studio!

On the Friday before Halloween the DREAMers painted beautiful pumpkins and played tag.

Youth and mentors worked together to create protective vessels for eggs, which were then dropped from varying heights. It was a great way to build on teamwork in the group while having a ton of fun!

The group also spent a couple of Fridays playing games on campus!

Special Events for Children and Mentors: 

This fall DREAM hosted its annual mentor conference, DREAMstock, at Bolton Valley Ski Resort. Mentors from all over the state attended for a weekend full of trainings, fun activities, exchanging of ideas, and bonding. Mentors talked about teen programming, how to connect with families, meeting facilitation, and fundraising ideas. Amanda

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

Rhodenburg from Outright VT came and talked with mentors about how to create safe spaces for our youth.

Capacity Building and Fundraising:   

DREAM staff members kicked off the annual appeal this November. Through the help of staff, volunteers, mentors, board members, and alumni we are over half way to our goal of $200,000.

Hannaford gave a generous gift of $10,000 to DREAM. The Merchant’s Bank gave a gift of $7,500 toward Camp DREAM.

Camp:  

We had a great Day of Caring this year with volunteers from Green Mountain Keurig.

The day was filled with completing important tasks such as bedding the garden for the winter and dismantling old structures for materials.

Camp Programs and Operations Manager, Matt Karkut, has been working hard on building structures at camp. Matt, along with volunteers, broke ground for a new cabin this fall. The group has constructed a foundation and a subfloor for the structure. Matt also got the roof completed on the bathhouse.

Office:  

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In September staff from Boston, Philadelphia, and Vermont got together for a retreat.

The retreat focused on how staff can strengthen local programs, work across regions, and more.

DREAM is excited to announce that we have a new VYDC AmeriCorps member. Alicia Pacelli has joined the team to serve as a Teen Coordinator. Alicia will be working closely with our teens throughout the state. She will be working on post-graduation plans, teen programming, teen retreats, and summer programming opportunities.

Former VYT AmeriCorps member Kate Cahalane received a Governor’s Service Award for her dedication to DREAM during her two years of service. Kate was a mentor at UVM for four years, a summer intern, supported our three Dartmouth programs as a PED, and supported our three UVM programs as a PED. Kate’s dedication to DREAM has impacted many youth and mentors throughout the state.

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, Kylie Edwards Program Empowerment Director, VYT AmeriCorps VISTA kylie@dreamprogram.org, 802.338.8936