Today, July 29, 2009, The DREAM Bennington Program is featured in the Bennington Banner.

Take a look here or read below:

DREAM-land Mentoring a hit with students, Willowbrook youngsters
NEAL P. GOSWAMI
Posted: 07/28/2009 10:54:43 PM EDT

BENNINGTON -- A new mentoring program at Bennington College is offering some local children plenty of new experiences this summer.

The DREAM Program, a non-profit mentoring program that pairs college students and children living in subsidized housing developments in Vermont, was founded in 1999. But it's only been a part of Bennington College since September, when the school became the ninth Vermont college to join.

So far, the program has been a hit among the children from Willowbrook Apartment complex and the college students who serve as mentors. The program combines best practices from mentoring and community development programs to create a unique experience for the children as well as the mentors.

Faith Griffiths, a Bennington College student from Rhinebeck, N.Y., who is serving as a mentor, said the college students help the children with whatever they need. "We kind of plan as we go. We have activities and we have projects," she said. "We act as their mentors for anything they need."

Griffiths said she has a background in cooking and baking, so many of the activities for local children center around those activities. She secured a grant from the DREAM program for ingredients. Now, the children meet with their mentors on the college campus every Friday for a dinner and movie night, with the food prepared by the children. The children have enjoyed making homemade pizza and lasagna, Griffiths said.

Partnerships within the community have helped make the program a local success, Griffiths said. The Blooming Chefs program, an ecoliteracy program for children, teens, their families and the community involving environmental stewardship through gardening and culinary arts, and Nova Mae's Cafe, have helped expand the program, according to Griffiths.

Dana Wolfson, another mentor and part of Blooming Chefs, said kids in the DREAM program have been able to harvest from the group's gardens to include in their cooking and baking. "We've been using the ingredients and teaching the kids about local gardening," she said.

The program allows for each site to plan its own activities. Wolfson said the Bennington College program is fairly unique. "It's very much about how we see this working," she said. "What we do with the kids is very different than what (the University of Vermont) does."

On Tuesday, Griffiths, Wolfson and several of the children in the DREAM program sold zucchini brownies at Nova Mae's Cafe on Main Street to raise money for trips and activities. Nova Mae's Cafe owner Kim Post said the children have brought a lot of exciting and vitality to the cafe.

Nine-year-old Madison said she has enjoyed traveling and baking, which the program has allowed her to do. She said she will be soon be able to attend summer camp for the first time because of the DREAM program.

Griffiths said the program runs a five-day camp for children who are part of the program. "They get to have -- in five days -- a very complete camp experience and meet the other kids in the other programs," she said.

The college students work as a team to provide mentoring activities to children in both individual and group settings. Griffiths said she and other local mentors are also working with parents to foster better communication about the program and include them in some activities.

The program also aims to create long-term relationships between children and mentors. Griffiths said children will be matched with the same mentor for the time the students are enrolled at Bennington College. When students graduate, a new student will take over as the child's mentor.

"This is something that's not going away," Griffiths said. "It's a college-aged mentor that stays with kids as they grow up."

Strong bonds have already developed between children and their mentors. "Someday I want to be like my friend Faith," said 10-year-old Cheyenne, as she hugged her mentor.

Contact Neal P. Goswami at ngoswami@benningtonbanner.com

Evan, Al, Katie, Matt and Shannon congratulations and DREAM Big!

On Saturday, May 9th, four Birchwood DREAMers gathered at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington, VT to congratulate their Champlain College mentors as they accepted their diplomas, shifted their tassels, and officially became college graduates. Some DREAMers gave their mentors pink frosted whoopie pies and chains made of dandelion stems as gifts, and others simply hugged their mentors and wished them the best!

Although graduation marked the end of their undergraduate experience and their time as DREAM mentors, no good-byes were exchanged. Plans among these pairs have already been made to hang out over the summer months and into the fall. All of the graduating mentors have planned to stay in contact with their mentees either by phone, e-mail, or in person! One graduate has even begun to plan an evening out on the town with his mentee, and three generations of that child’s mentors!