Programs
The Dream
AcademyThe Dream Academy provides participants with the resources and direction to hone their individual talents in music, theater, dance, vocal performance (song, rap, poetry), and visual arts in a welcoming environment. The program operates in twelve-week sessions for youth, ages 5-12, with the guidance of program facilitators. Participants and facilitators collaborate to write, produce and perform a variety show called “Daydreams” at the conclusion of each session. “Daydreams” addresses a pressing social issue selected by students.The Dream Academy will give youth participants an avenue to enhance their artistic abilities through sectional training, building viable friendships and relationships with peers through group rehearsals and projects, developing a understanding of how certain social issues affect individuals as well as their community at-large, students will use their gifts and talents to relay a message that will be engaging and informative to program attendees and will promote community awareness and involvement to change the fabric of their community and world around them. Robert Kennedy once said “Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not?" this is the heart and soul of what Day Dreams is meant to teach Dreams Work, Inc participants to accomplish.
Urban Theater Project
The Urban Theatre Project utilizes the arts to entertain and educate audiences about various social issues facing youth and their communities. Urban Theatre Project is designed to use performing arts tools to assist in educating students using age appropriate lessons. Program facilitators use entertainment and interactive theater techniques to prepare lessons corresponding with existing classroom curriculum, cementing conventional education and enhancing the classroom. Youth will be able to perform plays, concerts, visual arts exhibitions, as well as produce short film, PSA’s, etc. in order to help educate communities on various key social issues relevant to teens such as of domestic violence, date rape, HIV-Aids, Teen Pregnancy, Youth Violence, and Childhood Obesity. The Urban Theatre Project will conduct a tour promoting social change by youth who are proactively identifying key issues affecting their generation and providing clear and obtainable solutions for other young people, parents, and/or guardians to embrace in order to better their homes and community.
Tayon Glover Leadership Academy
The Tayon Glover Leadership Academy (TGLA) was created to prepare youth to thrive as strong, empathetic and effective, lifelong leaders. We strive to equip youth with the tools necessary to promote positive change in- and around their communities. Dreams Work, Inc. is based on an understanding that: youth of all socioeconomic backgrounds who lack proper guidance, can be considered “at-risk.” Therefore, it aims to develop viable programs and services to ensure these young people receive the proper care, support and encouragement needed for their dreams to take flight. The lessons are designed to promote the enhancement of three basic skill sets: Resilience, Focus, and Communication.
F.I.R.M. (Focused Improvement for Reading and Mathematics Program)
F.I.R.M. is a parent-tutor training program in which parents learn the skills necessary to help their children at home with some of their work. Parents and students in grades 1-6 can enroll in the program. The parent and child will be matched with a tutor in the F.I.R.M. program. The tutors will be trained instructors who are able to tutor the student in reading and math and on other days, the tutor will train the parent to implement a "FIRM" study hour. The "FIRM" study hour will be an opportunity for parents to create structure and instructional consistency in their homes, by using the same activities and practices that the tutor will use with the student. The parent will learn firsthand from the tutor, and be able to practice facilitating for their child while the tutor is there to provide additional support. Tutors will tutor the child in reading and math while training the parent to continue to implement activities and exercises that will enhance thier child’s critical thinking, deductive reasoning, reading comprehension, problem solving, and math skills.
Healthy Dreamers Club
The Healthy Dreamers Club was developed to utilize the arts as a way to provide education and awareness about health issues. The primary mission of this program is to increase Health Liter-acy on Topics such as Minority Health (Women and Children), Mental Health, Reproductive Health (H.i.v. aids, std’s, teen pregnancy, etc), Childhood Obesity, and Heart Lung & Kidney (Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma, etc) Dreams Work will Partner with health professionals to teach age appropriate lessons on the aforementioned health topics participants will then think of educational yet entertaining ways to spread awareness throughout their communities, and host performances at area churches, schools, and community centers.
In Vision
Ronald Reagan once said that “To grasp and hold a vision, that is the very essence of successful leadership—not only on the movie set where I learned it, but everywhere.” It is the mission of this program to provide a safe environment for youth to do two things develop (grasp) a vision for ways they can help educate their peers and secondly for them to use technology (hold) to bring their vision to life using a cameras, computers, and others tools involved in media arts to develop social commentary regarding topics relevant to youth while exposing participants to the field of broadcast and print journalism, through the production of an Ezine, Internet Radio Shows, and a Web Channel.
Dreams Exchange
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The Dreams Exchange Program seeks to help youth gain a deeper understanding of the American Dream while learning to describe themselves as global citizens. “Life should be better and richer and fuller…” the program will combine the concepts of Multi-culturalism/diversity, Financial Literacy, Life Skills, conflict resolution and Civic/community Engagement utilizing the arts as a way to help break down barriers and deepen participants understanding of a global community, while helping youth develop a entrepreneurial mind set.
Partners
United Way of the National Capital Area More than any other local organization, United Way of the National Capital Area realizes the interconnectedness of our region and the people who live here.