Vermont's gala event for mentoring is the annual Mentors Make a Difference Conference, organized by the Vermont Mentoring Partnership. This year, there were more than 40 workshops and 400 attendees from all over the state. At the conference, Brooke Lierman and Mike Foote presented a workshop on Village Mentoring™, which unveiled for the first time a new mentoring program model that DREAM has been developing.

Also at the conference, Governor Jim Douglas presented DREAM with the award for Outstanding Mentor Organization in the state of Vermont. DREAM is honored to be recognized as an important part of the growing mentoring movement in Vermont. Everyone who has supported DREAM through the years should be extremely proud of this recognition of our accomplishments.

The UVM students in the Elm Street program only became an official college-recognized club in February of 2003, but it did not take much time for them to make a large splash on campus. With over 40 students participating, weekly mentoring programs on campus, "Homework Helpers" at JFK Elementary School on Mondays and Wednesdays, and campus fundraising events such as the Chili Cook-Off, De La Soul Concert, and Spring Thing, their visibility and impact on campus and in the community has been enormous.

In recognition of their tremendous accomplishments in this past year, UVM DREAM was awarded The President's Award for Outstanding Organization, which was presented to the program "in recognition of a lasting impact upon the university and Burlington communities." There were eight other excellent student organizations in the running for this award, and DREAM is honored to have been recognized in this way.