End-of-Year Bash

Thursday, June 9th, we held our End-of-Year Bash at Nautilus Middle School. It was nice to celebrate the ending of the school year and spend time with mentors, community partners, and friends. We had light refreshments along with a delicious cake to celebrate the promotion of our Dreamers to 8th and 9th grade.

For the students heading to different high schools, it was a bitter sweet moment. They were able to say "good-bye" to their middle school family but were super excited to be going into high school. For those rising 8th graders, they were a little sad to be saying "good-bye" to their 8th grade friends/family, nonetheless, they were excited about becoming upper-classmen. 

During the ceremony, all mentors present were acknowledged for their dedication and commitment to their mentee' and were awarded a certificate of appreciation. Also, community partners were acknowledged for the work they have done with I Have a Dream-Overtown during the past year. Lastly, to end the party on a lighter note, the Dreamers were able to discover the results of their Superlative votes. The following superlatives were award to the following Dreamers:

Most Artistic: Demani Blatch & Vernon Maddox

Teacher's Pet: Sendy Joseph & Christian Cruz

Class Clown: Demani Blatch & Matt Lumpkin

Best Hair: Jaimesha Smith & Malik Williams

Most Likely to become President: Sendy Joseph & Alejandro Castro

Best Smile: Jaimesha Smith & Kama Jackson Jr.

Most Likely to give Mr. Lewis a Headache: 

Wadlene Fritz & Markel Anderson

Most Quiet: Madeline Cruz & Cristian Mena

Best Dress: Narquavia Brown & Kama Jackson Jr.

Biggest Facebook Addict: Wadlene Fritz & Matt Lumpkin (photo of Matt only)

Most Athletic: Demani Blatch & Malik Williams 

Best Leadership: Emanuella Dixon & Kama Jackson Jr. 

Best Eyes: Jaimesha Smith & Jeremiah Rivera

Funniest Laugh: Estrella Arauz & Malik Williams

Most Talkative: Emanuella Dixon & Matt Lumpkin

Most Friendly: Sendy Joseph & Kama Jackson Jr. 

We would like to send a personal "Thank you" to all the mentors, community partners, friends, and family members that have helped sustain I Have a Dream-Overtown, Inc. for another successful year. 

Biscayne National Park (Homestead)

On May 28th the Dreamers were invited to Biscayne National Park.  Ms. Hill (our VISTA) along with park ranger: Chris Beers helped to organize the event.  The day began with the Dreamers taking a nice 45 minute bus ride south to Homestead (for many of our Dreamers, it was their very first time traveling that far south).  Once we arrived, Ranger Chris gathered us to discuss park history along with some of the ecological and environmental things we might encounter.  Did you know that Florida Flatworms were hermaphroditic? Our Dreamers witnessed how two male flatworms would "cross swords" the loser, destined to morph into a female and assume the "motherly" duties of carrying/caring for the young.  After our ecological lesson, Ranger Chris took the group outside to begin their Canoe Adventure.  This included: safety precautions, manuvering, and canoe protocal (who sits where/responsible for what).  All the dreamers were paired in groups of three, boarded their canoes, and set sail!  After navigating the calm gentle waters of the park, we all docked at an island about half a mile from shore, and had lunch. ON THE ISLAND!  The day concluded with a "friendly" race back to shore (won by Milton, Precious, and Mr. Lewis).  Best of all we had no capsized vessels on this day, and each Dreamer raved about the first time experience.  Thank again to Ranger Chris Beers and Ms. Hill, along with chaparones: P.Romaniuk, N.Roling and M. D'Amico.