Birchwood DREAM Quarterly Report September - November, 2017
Greetings from DREAM! As the summer drew to an end and the children and college students all prepared for class, wonderful DREAM activities began, starting in September and stretching all the way to December. Champlain College and the Birchwood community were brimming with DREAMiness and here is a summary of happenings that occurred during the fall.
Highlights from the quarter include: ●
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Birchwood DREAM tabled at Champlain College’s Fall Activities Fair to recruit new mentors. Current mentors were joined by mentee Kloe Adams, who pitched DREAM to the college’s President, Don Laackman. Birchwood DREAM welcomed six new mentors; Alex McKenna, Hannah Keenan, Laura Falardeau, Brendan Dutton, Amanda Morrison, and Olivia Cefalu. Birchwood co-chairs, Ashley Devereaux and Olivia Richer. volunteered at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory and raised $108 for their program!
Participants Mentees Total: 17 Weekly Programming: ●
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Mentors Total: 14
The first DREAM Friday of the semester was spent in the community center where current mentors and mentees created a list of expectations and desired activities for the year. Birchwood DREAM took a trip to Allenholm Farm for some apple picking. DREAMers also spent time petting and feeding the farm animals on site! Returning mentors and mentees spent an afternoon at Bombardier “Bear” Park where they enjoyed the playground and an open field for soccer and an impromptu teen-talk. Birchwood DREAM spent a Friday in the community center baking and frosting mini cakes and playing Apples to Apples! Mentors and mentees painted pumpkins together and participated in outdoor activities. Birchwood DREAM supported mentee Kat Adams at her final soccer game of the season. Mentees went trick-or-treating around Juniper Hall and led the mentors in a fun round of hide-and-seek to end the Halloween celebration!
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Birchwood DREAM went bowling at Champlain Lanes! This was the first time all mentors and mentees went off-site together this semester. DREAMers broke off into smaller groups and made pizza or slime on Champlain’s campus and baked cookies in the community center. Birchwood teens dined at Buffalo Wild Wings and made extra-long straws to share a milkshake with.
Special Events for Children and Mentors: ● In October, DREAM staff hosted our annual mentor conference, DREAMstock! We had over 50 mentors in attendance from 7 different programs across the state. The day consisted of multiple trainings on topics including behavior management, cultural competency, healthy sexual development in youth, and a teen panel. Capacity Building and Fundraising: ● We’re currently in the middle of our annual fundraising drive, where we raise close to ⅓ of our annual operating budget. Camp: ● Camp programming is off at the moment, but we are planning for Winter Adventure Camp in February and March. ● Camp construction on our lodge, bath house, and more is currently underway. Teen Accomplishments: ● The Fall Vermont Teen retreat took place on Saturday, November 4 at Champlain College. 19 teens from all across the state, 5 DREAM staff, 5 DREAM mentors, and 6 guest speakers attended. The range of topics covered included career options and identity, as well as college club options and challenges that teens face at school and in their personal lives. It was a very successful event! Alumni: ● The alumni council is rolling out an alumni directory intended to keep alumni connected and able to support the kids and organization. ● Alumni grants are also being reviewed, providing program sites with additional programrelated funding. Office: ●
DREAM welcomed 14 new Americorps members (six of which are serving in Vermont) and kicked off the new service year with a retreat. The retreat set vision for the upcoming year and included all members and staff from across our three locations (Boston, Philadelphia, and Vermont).
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The DREAM Office hosted its first site visit with our CNCS Grant Officer Rachel Turner The visit was very informative and helpful for us and Rachel was pleased with our progress as a new grantee. DREAM Vermont has a “new” office at the Elm Street Community Center in Winooski, Vermont. A few of our current staff members and AmeriCorps members will now call this their new home office.
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/mentoring/vermont/local-program-reports.
DREAM big, Deb Kosnar Program Empowerment Director dkosnar@dreamprogram.org 802.338.8979