Franklin Square DREAM Quarterly Report October - December, 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. Saint Michael’s College and the Franklin Square 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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Franklin Square mentors tabled at Saint Michael’s College’s Activities Fair to recruit new mentors. Their efforts were successful and the program welcomes eight new mentors: Jacob Brodbine, Kayla Schneider, Kyle Kowalski, Gabrielle White, Angelina O’Donnell, William Langdon, Mariah Mansur, and Monique Gardon. Franklin Square mentors volunteered at the Ben and Jerry’s Factory and raised $390 for their program!
Participants Mentees Total: 25
Mentors Total: 18
Weekly Programming: ● ● ● ● ●
Franklin Square DREAM spent an afternoon at Oakledge Park enjoying time by the water, and exploring the treehouse. Mentors grilled on St. Mike’s campus and the group played soccer outside the Student Life Center. Franklin Square DREAMers dressed up and very happily trick-or-treated across campus. DREAMers visited St. Mike’s sports courts, where mentors and mentees played basketball, racquetball, and danced! Franklin Square was joined by Winchester for a DREAMy Thanksgiving celebration!
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: ●
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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). 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