The dream program, windsor union sq, sept, oct, nov 2015

dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

Windsor/Union Square –DREAM Quarterly Report September – November 2015 Greetings from DREAM! The Windsor/Union Square DREAM program has finished up another wonderful semester of activities. Here is a summary of all the Windsor/Union Square DREAM happenings from the last quarter.

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

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DREAM welcomed Windsor mentor Dylan Krouse as the new Student Director through Dartmouth Center for Service. Dylan will be coordinating with all three programs to bring another successful year of DREAM to our youth.

Mentors from all three Dartmouth DREAM programs got together for training in September.

Middlebury DREAM alumnus Melanie Dennis, now a PhD candidate at Dartmouth, has joined as a Program Partner.

DREAM hosted its annual mentor conference in October. Mentors from all of our VT programs were invited to Bolton Valley to talk about important issues with the youth and strategies for further developing their programs.

In October new mentors rotated through the three Dartmouth programs to become acquainted with each community and the youth in the program.

DREAM alumnus Julien Blanchet hung out with a small group of teens from Northwoods and Windsor in October on a Saturday afternoon. Julien surprised the mentees by showing up for Halloween DREAM Friday. Many of the kids were surprised when they realized who was under the costume!

Gautam Babu (Northwoods mentor), Kevin Ryu (Northwoods mentor), and alumnus Julien Blanchet took a group of teens to Six Flags for a day of fun on a Saturday in October!

Windsor mentor Sally Portman accepted a position with the board of directors for DREAM. Windsor welcomed seven new mentors in October!

Mentors and mentees went to The Montshire Museum and had a special lunch from King Arthur Flour.

Mentor, Gautam Babu, held a teen culminating event. Teens from Northwoods and Windsor met up at the Pizza Chef in Windsor for dinner and then went bowling in Claremont, NH. Windsor welcomed two new mentees this quarter. Mentors have been working hard to recruit more youth.

Teens from all three programs were invited to attend a teen dinner at the Northwoods community center. Three teens from Windsor attended. Mentees and mentors made chicken fajitas together and played board games.

In December the mentors left for winter break. The mentees certainly miss their mentors.

Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org

Fridays: 

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There was one DREAM Friday in September! Mentors brought youth to campus to participate in a fall festival! Mentees got to enjoy a cook-out, inflatables, cotton candy, live music, and a bungee trampoline. Mentees and mentors from all three DREAM programs had the opportunity to interact.

There were four DREAM Fridays in October. Mentors did one-on-one and small group activities on campus. Some of the groups played games on the green, baked, and did craft projects.

Mentors and mentees dressed up for Halloween. Mentors arranged for activities and trick-ortreating on campus!

Mentors held one of their Fridays in the community. Mentors brought the youth to the high school field and played games.

In November mentors had DREAM on campus once. The mentors and mentees did small group and one-on-one activities with the mentees.

For the final DREAM of the year mentors had community dinner in the Union Square community room. DREAM dad, Scott Walder, cooked dinner for everyone. He prepared chicken and beef tacos. Many parents came, enjoyed the food, bonded with the mentors, and played games.

Special Events for Children and Mentors: 

This fall DREAM hosted its annual mentor conference, DREAM stock, at Bolton Valley Ski Resort. Mentors from all over the state attended for a weekend full of trainings, fun activities, exchanging of ideas, and bonding. Mentors talked about teen programming, how to connect with families, meeting facilitation, and fundraising ideas. Amanda Rhodenburg from Outright VT came and talked with mentors about how to create safe spaces for our youth.

Capacity Building and Fundraising:   

DREAM staff members kicked off the annual appeal this November. Through the help of staff, volunteers, mentors, board members, and alumni we are almost half way to our goal of $200,000.

Hannaford gave a generous gift of $10,000 to DREAM. The Merchant’s Bank gave a gift of $7,500 toward Camp DREAM.

Camp:  

We had a great Day of Caring this year with volunteers from Green Mountain Keurig.

The day was filled with completing important tasks such as bedding the garden for the winter and dismantling old structures for materials.

Camp Programs and Operations Manager, Matt Karkut, has been working hard on building structures at camp. Matt, along with volunteers, broke ground for a new cabin

this fall. The group has constructed a foundation and a subfloor for the structure. Matt also got the roof completed on the bathhouse.

Office:  

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In September staff from Boston, Philadelphia, and Vermont got together for a retreat.

The retreat focused on how staff can strengthen local programs, work across regions, DREAM is excited to announce that we have a new VYDC AmeriCorps member. Alicia Pacelli has joined the team to serve as a Teen Coordinator. Alicia will be working closely with our teens throughout the state. She will be working on post-graduation plans, teen programming, teen retreats, and summer programming opportunites.

Former VYT AmeriCorps member Kate Cahalane received a Governor’s Service Award for her dedication to DREAM during her two years of service. Kate was a mentor at UVM for four years, a summer intern, supported our three Dartmouth programs as a PED, and supported our three UVM programs as a PED. Kate’s dedication to DREAM has impacted many youth and mentors throughout the state.

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