Celebrating our mentors: Holiday party!

During the lead-up to the holiday season, it’s easy to get sidetracked by life stressors and lose sight of long-term goals. After a long and exciting quarter filled with personal statements, college applications and preparing for the FAFSA with their mentees, DP mentors averted being dissuaded from cheer by choosing to de-stress with a holiday party. Though some were still struggling with finals, with the help of RoLi (Ross and Lirra, this year’s AmeriCorps members) one of the best DP parties yet was assembled. Featuring wreath making, Mason jar painting, pictures with Santa and a gingerbread house competition, the party was a smashing success! Over 50 mentors attended the event, each bringing their own unique version of holiday cheer.

Keeping Dream Project in mind at all times, the gingerbread houses themselves represented key themes about the organization. One team made a 5-tier house to represent the five values of Dream Project, and another, the first place winner, created the life of a mentee—complete with rock-filled rapids and supportive hands.

Pictures with Santa (a.k.a. Grant Twitchell) were profoundly popular, bringing mentors of all ages to his chair for a quick snap. After all the eggnog and leftover Admission’s Workshop Weekend animal crackers had been consumed, the party concluded with an ugly sweater competition and final picture of DP mentors for the year. Stress thus averted, and good times had by all (even the losing teams), the autumn 2014 cohort came to close in the best way possible: with camaraderie, cookies, good cheer and the knowledge that it was all brought together by the mentees for whom we care.