The DREAM Program, Johnson, Quarter 2, 2016-2017

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The Village Mentoring Organization

Johnson State College DREAM Quarterly Report Quarter 2 December 2016 – February 2017 Greetings from DREAM! The Johnson DREAM program has finished up another wonderful quarter of activities. Here is a summary of all the Johnson DREAM happenings from the last quarter.

Highlights from the quarter include: • • •

Johnson DREAM held their final DREAM Friday of the semester on December 9th. Then mentors and mentees reunited in January after a long month apart!

Madeleine Boyce joined Kirsty Greeno as the second Co Chair this semester.

Eleven mentees from the Johnson DREAM Program attended Winter Adventure Camp in February!

Weekly Programming: • • • • • •

For their final DREAM of the Fall Semester, mentors and mentees decorated ornaments and holiday cookies!

For their first DREAM Friday of the Spring Semester, the group set goals and expectations and played in the computer lab!

Johnson DREAM spent multiple afternoons splashing around in the JSC pool.

Mentors and mentees spent an afternoon climbing on the rock wall at JSC! The group did arts and crafts and made slime!

Mentors and mentees faced off in games like basketball and medic in the JSC gymnasium.

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: • 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 in 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.

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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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: • •

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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.

The Vermont Office is busy planning for our annual College Road Trip where we will be taking a group of Vermont teens on a 7 day trip based out of Vermont Technical College in Randolph. DREAM teens will tour colleges, learn about college life, the application process, and other post-secondary opportunities.

Alumni: • The Alumni Organization is starting to opened 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, Julia Dillavou Program Empowerment Director, VYT AmeriCorps VISTA Julia@dreamprogram.org, 802.338.8979