The DREAM Program, Somerville HA, January-March, 2012

The DREAM Program, Inc. 41 Dearborn St. Boston, MA 02119 (617) 699-8408 www.dreamprogram.org

March 1st, 2012

The SHA DREAM Update 2 Quarter Report 2011-2012 Program Year (December-February) nd

During the second quarter the SHA/Tufts program wrapped up a very successful Fall Semester and started up the Spring Semester of programming right away when the mentors returned from Winter Break.

DREAM Weekly programming: DREAM Programming happens every Friday afternoon that the Tufts’ mentors are on campus and in classes.  12/2 (8 youth, 11 mentors): Group games on Carmichael Quad for the mentors and children to continue getting to know each other. Games included Kick the Can, Stuck in the Mud, Everyone is It Tag, and some team building games.  12/9 (8 youth, 11 mentors): Last DREAM of the Fall Semester. The group played games outside, rolled down the hill by the Tisch Library and had a family style dinner in the dining hall. The group dinner gave the mentors time to talk about the upcoming Winter Break and the allowed the mentors that were studying abroad in the Spring Semester to talk to the youth about where they were going.  1/27 (5 youth, 8 mentors): First DREAM of the Spring Semester. The mentors and children were excited to see each other again. They spent the afternoon catching up and playing group games on Tufts’ campus.  2/3 (7 youth, 8 mentors): To start the Spring Semester the mentors made a conscious effort to feel out which children they would feel comfortable being paired up with. The group spent the afternoon running activities inside that enabled mentors to work with the mentees more hands on in small group and one-on-one settings.  2/10 (7 youth, 9 mentors): The mentors purposed to their mentees asking them if they would be their mentee. The youth were very excited to have a college student asking them if they could be their mentor. The afternoon was spent coming up with rules for DREAM as a group and then having some one-on-one time in the newly formed mentor matches.  2/17 (6 youth, 13 mentors): This was the first DREAM Friday for a group of newly recruited mentors. New mentors shadowed during one-on-one time and then the group played a huge game of Capture the Flag on the Carmichael Quad.  2/24 (5 youth, 15 mentors): With it being school vacation week the number of youth at DREAM was lower then usual. The group played a bunch of different games inside due to the rainy weather.

DREAM Participants:

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Mentors: The mentors implemented a very well orchestrated recruitment push to bring on new mentors early in the Spring Semester. After reading through applications and conducting interviews they brought on 8 new mentors!  Youth: With the addition of 8 new mentors the group will be looking to double the number of children in the program in March. The mentors are planning on holding DREAM on March 2nd in the community to see which youth are interested in joining the school-year DREAM program.

Program Development:  Leadership elections: Upon getting back to campus from Winter Break the mentors held elections for co-chairs, a treasurer, and a secretary. It is great to see the mentors taking ownership and pride in the program they created and are running.  Mentor training: This quarter the mentors received training on DREAM’s Core Values and Children’s Theory of Change. The training focused on introducing them to these two guiding documents and reminding them to plan their weekly programming with the purpose of furthering DREAM’s mission for the youth they serve.  Partnering-up: The mentors worked to partner up into one-on-one matches with the mentees quickly once they returned for Spring Semester. They had the youth fill out a questionnaire during programming that asked who they would like to be their mentor along with other questions, like what new things would they like to do with DREAM. Using that information and their experiences with the youth the mentors sat down during one of their weekly Wednesday mentor meetings and worked out the mentor matches.  Communication with parents: Now that they are partnered up the mentors are focusing on get to know their mentee’s parents better. They call the household once a week and are the person who picks up and drops off their match at their apartment each Friday. In addition the mentors created a quick fact sheet that contained their contact information and a questionnaire for the parent to fill out about what they wanted their child to get out of DREAM and the best time to call them each week.

The SHA/Tufts DREAM program is running well and continuing to grow. We are excited to get more youth involved in school-year DREAM in the coming quarter.

Keep DREAMing!

Chad Butt, Boston Programs Director