dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
Pine Meadow/Peter Coe –DREAM Quarterly Report Quarter 2 December 2016 – February 2017 Greetings from DREAM! The Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of activities. Here is a summary of all the Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM happenings from the last quarter.
Highlights from the quarter include: The group celebrated the close of the fall semester with a Saturday day trip to Get Air, the trampoline park in Williston. Mentors came together one Sunday this quarter for trainings on behavior management and racism. During February DREAMers from across Vermont came together for our Winter Adventure Camps (WAC)! DREAMers went downhill skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and (during the WAC when the snow melted) skating at Skateland!
Weekly Programming: After the long college winter break, mentors and mentees were excited to be reunited for their first DREAM Friday back! The group played outdoor games at the campus garden and then ate dinner together at the college dining hall. This quarter the group gathered at the Middlebury College gym to play dodgeball and blob tag. Winter is not complete without a sledding adventure! One Friday this quarter the group had a blast sledding and playing in the snow. DREAMers spent one Friday at a team favorite, Whirlie’s World, where they played Laser Tag, video games, and bounced around in the bounce houses! One Friday the group went to the Ceramics House on the Middlebury Campus to make pottery.
Special Events for Children and Mentors: In December the teens were invited to our annual fall Teen Retreat! Teens from all over VT got together in Montpelier for a day filled with informational sessions, a hike, bowling, pizza, and of course some bonding time. Capacity Building and Fundraising:
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org
In December staff and AmeriCorps members were working on the annual appeal. Letters were hand written and sent out to donors. Staff and AmeriCorps member worked on writing thank you notes to all donors following the annual appeal. This quarter we received a $50,000 grant to continue to invest in Camp DREAM and lodge development. DREAM started working on the College Road Trip auction. Staff and AmeriCorps members are working to get donations for the auction which will be held in April.
Camp: This year Winter Adventure Camps (WAC) were held in each region to minimize traveling for youth and mentors! For our Southern WAC with Poultney, Bennington, and Rutland we brought our youth to Pico Mountain for a day of downhill skiing. For our Dartmouth College WAC we brought the youth to Dartmouth Skiway for a day of skiing or snowshoeing. The teens did an overnight at Nunnemacher Cabin at the Dartmouth Skiway. For our UVM WAC we did a hike up Mt. Philo since the snow melted. The kids enjoyed a warm day of hiking, sight-seeing, and exploring around the top. For our Northern WAC with Champlain, Johnson, and Saint Michael’s we brought the youth to Skateland. The kids enjoyed pizza and skating with some old friends and some new faces! This year we received a grant from the Davis Foundation for $5000 for gear for WAC. The money was used to purchase snowshoes. Teens: Mentee Justice Palmer has been accepted to 7 of the 11 colleges and universities she applied to earlier in the year! For MLK Day AmeriCorps members and staff brought a group of teens to Camp DREAM. The teens engaged in small service projects, explored Camp DREAM in the snow, ate delicious food, and bonded. Alumni: The Alumni Organization is starting to open up applications for local programs to apply for funding for special projects. Office: DREAM is currently recruiting for a Chief Operation Officer. Staff and AmeriCorps members from VT, Philadelphia, and Boston got together in December for a week to discuss methods for improving programming.
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, 802.338.8936