dreamprogram.org

The DREAM Program

@DREAMprogram

The Village Mentoring Organization

41 Dearborn St., Roxbury, MA 02119 | (617) 699-8408 | boston@dreamprogram.org

The Putnam Gardens DREAM Update

February 2013 The mentees and mentors were excited to start-up the Spring Semester of DREAM after a lengthy Winter Break and the snowstorm. DREAM Programming:

2/8: DREAM was cancelled due to the snowstorm.

2/15 (7 mentees, 6 mentors): The group spent the afternoon in their one-on-one matches on campus and around Harvard Square catching up after the long break and brainstorming ideas for activities for this semester.

2/22 (7 mentees, 9 mentors): Everyone heading back to Harvard for an afternoon of ice skating on the small rink by the Science Center. For many of the youth it was their first time wearing ice skates.

Beyond Weekly Programming: One mentor, through talking with her mentee during their weekly activity learned that her mentee, a 7th grade, was struggling in school. The mentor took the initiative to and set up a meeting with her mentee’s teachers to learn more about how he was doing and see if there were ways DREAM could assist. On February 14th the mentor and I had a productive meeting with the mentee’s teachers and guidance counselor and made a plan to better support him. Some of the steps included: him staying after school more for homework help, the mentor helping him find books to read for his English Language Arts class at the public library, and creating a space where he could study at home. On February 25th the mentor, mentee, and I assembled the bunk bed frame that had been sitting in his room for months to make room for a desk and chair we found for free on Craigslist. The mentee was excited to have a place to do his homework in his home! Program Development:

Making up missed programming: As with all college students, DREAM mentors occasionally have scheduling conflicts and cannot attend a Friday afternoon of programming. The Harvard mentors continue to do an outstanding job making sure that their mentee still attends Friday programming in that case. If they miss Friday, mentors meet with their mentees on another day that week to ensure that they spend quality time together.

Becoming part of the College: The mentors submitted the application to the Public Service Network this month to potentially become an officially recognized student group on campus.

DREAM Office:

Mass Mentoring Partnership training: On February 5th, Zahra attended a Mentor Match Support training conducted by the Mass Mentoring Partnership organization and discussed best practices to better assist with our work in match support for the DREAM mentors.

Champions in Action announcement: On February 21st, Citizens Bank formally announced that DREAM had been recognized as the 2013 Champions in Action for the next 6 months. In addition to receiving a monetary award, DREAM will also receive publicity via NECN and have flyers in all of the Citizens Bank branches.

Summer Resources compilation: We are in the process of collecting summer resources and camp information for DREAM’s Summer Guide that will be distributed to all Putnam Garden DREAM families in April/May.

Keep DREAMing! Chad Butt Program Director