The DREAM Program, Pine Meadow/Peter Coe, Quarter 3, 2016-2017

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Pine Meadow/Peter Coe –DREAM Quarterly Report Quarter 3 March 2017 – May 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:  Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAMers celebrated the end of the year with a culminating trip to Essex Speedway in Essex, VT. The group went go-karting, played on bumper cars and giant bounce houses, and played arcade games.  This quarter DREAMers from across Vermont came together for our Winter Adventure Camps (WAC)! DREAMers went downhill skiing, snowshoeing and hiking, and (during the WAC when the snow melted) skating at Skateland!  This month DREAM held its annual Teen Retreat for younger teens, age 12-14.

Teens from across Vermont met at Dartmouth College, where they participated in a Snapchat challenge and discussion about internet safety. Following this they had an overnight at the Dartmouth Class of ’69 cabin, where teens performed in a talent show and ate lots of S’mores!

Weekly Programming:  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!  Since St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday this year, Pine Meadow/Peter Coe DREAM held a St. Paddy’s Day party! Included in the celebration was leprechaun hat making, irish step-dancing with special guest Katie Carpenter from the Middlebury College Center for Community Engagement, face painting, donut on a string, limericks, and a treasure hunt!  One Friday the group went swimming at Vermont Sun, where the mentors and mentees especially loved the water slide!  The group came together for some arts and crafts projects at one Friday this quarter.

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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One warm, Springy Friday the group hiked a portion of the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM)!

DREAMers had a field day one Friday! They had a 3-legged race, played sharks and minnows, toilet tag, and capture the flag. They also made a sign for the Relay for Life taking place at the college out of recycled materials!

One Friday was spent on a journey around campus in a scavenger hunt that involved, among other things, some nifty food related tasks!

The DREAMers had a blast during their science themed DREAM Friday! They experimented with mentos and diet coke, blowing up balloons by producing gas, making slime, and making lava lamps.

The group spent one Friday watching Moana and playing games and working on arts and crafts. Everyone loved Moana!

One Friday the DREAMers enjoyed the warm, Springy weather while exploring Lake Dunmore!

Special Events for Children and Mentors:  This Spring DREAM brought together 15 teens from all over Vermont to learn about internet safety, participate in a snapchat challenge, and stay overnight in a cabin on the Dartmouth Skiway!  Burlington area teens got together to do a project called ‘Girl Talk Diversity Cupcakes’ where they made cupcakes that represented themselves and things the group may not have known about them. They also played bonding games.

Capacity Building and Fundraising: nd  This quarter DREAM held its 2 annual College Road Trip online auction fundraiser. This year DREAM raised over $5,000, around $4,000 more than was raised last year!!  DREAM was thrilled to be chosen by the student body at St. Mikes for the Fix it with Five grant. This award totaled $10,000 and is going towards starting a new program at St. Mike’s paired with Winchester Place in Colchester.  This quarter DREAM was chosen to be one of three finalists for a grant award of $100K from Philadelphia based NRG. The winner was determined by a two week online voting campaign where people were able to vote an unlimited number of times. DREAM won the $100,000 thanks to the countless members of the DREAM family who threw their energy into endless clicking and recaptchas!

Camp:  Camp Work Days brought about 30 volunteers from IBM over 2 days to Camp DREAM to help prepare for the summer!  At the very beginning of March, three of our Northern Vermont programs, Johnson, Birchwood, and Franklin Square, had their WAC (Winter Adventure Camp). Our other programs had their WACs in the last week and a half of February. Due to unexpectedly warm weather that melted all the snow, Johnson, Birchwood, and Franklin Square DREAMers went roller skating at Skateland, and had a blast!

Teen Accomplishments:  DREAM is excited that all 4 graduating mentees are headed to College this coming Fall! Sumeya is going to Castleton, Jeannette to Johnson, and Noorto and Justice to UVM! Congratulations DREAMers!  Franklin Square alum Brianna Knox wrote a book that she self-published and shared with kindergartners at the elementary school in Winooski.

Alumni:  This Spring 4 mentees graduated from High School and 59 mentors and DREAM volunteers graduated from college! Congratulations to all our inspirational graduates! DREAM celebrated the graduates in new alumni welcomes parties across the state this Fall.  Former mentee and current DREAM volunteer and Summer AmeriCorps Member Nakaya graduated from the New England School of Hair Design this May!  This Spring DREAM held its annual Staff/Board/Alumni overnight retreat at Camp DREAM. A group of DREAM staff, board, and alumni from Vermont, Philadelphia, Boston, and beyond came together to reflect upon the past year and set vision for the future of the organization.

Office:  This Spring DREAM staff from all three states came together in Pittsfield Massachusetts for an all-staff retreat. At this retreat, DREAM focused on setting standards for programmatic excellence.

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