The dream program, northwoods, quarter 2, 2016 2017

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The Village Mentoring Organization

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

Highlights from the quarter include:       

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Teens from all over Vermont were invited to Teen Retreat in Montpelier. The teens had fun with some informational sessions, pizza, laser tag, and bowling! One teen from Windsor attended!

Mentors came back to campus in January after a long winter break!

DREAM celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day by getting teens together from all over VT for a day filled with snowy outdoor activities at Camp DREAM. Dakota from Northwoods attended.

Nakaya, former mentee, who is currently attending cosmetology school at New England School of Hair Design in West Lebanon, NH officially started seeing clients this month!

Youth went skating for culminating and enjoyed pizza while they skated.

Mentors held a separate culminating for teens attending High Adventure. Teens competed in a Chopped challenge. Teens and their mentors had to work together to cook a random assortment of weird foods. They bonded and ate pizza as well!

Winter Adventure Camp was in February. Youth had the option of snowshoeing or downhill skiing for the day at Dartmouth Skiway. Teens enjoyed a sleepover in the Nunnemacher Cabin. Thanks to Ron Dwinell from VSHA for attending and assisting the youth in learning to ski!

Mentors and teens have been working hard to plan for High Adventure to San Francisco, CA for this June! Airplane tickets and lodging have been purchased. In the coming months youth will work on solidifying activities they would like to experience while there.

Willing Hands came to run a cooking class for the youth during February break. They cooked butternut squash soup and made chicken tenders with homemade dipping sauces!

Weekly Programming:    

The mentors went to the community to play with the youth outside for their first Friday back to campus in January!

Mentors and mentees attended WinterFest on campus. They participated in wintery outdoor activities and drank hot cocoa.

PED, Kylie Edwards, hosted a chocolate dipping activity for the mentors and mentees one Friday. Pairs got to make their own chocolate dipped clementines and pretzels!

Pairs did one-on-one and small group programming this quarter.

Special Events for Children and Mentors:

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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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:   

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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.

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:  

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.

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.

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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, Kylie Edwards Program Empowerment Director, VYT AmeriCorps VISTA kylie@dreamprogram.org, 802.338.8936