Project Team News

Hi everyone-

Wow, it has been so long. I really need to make a plan on how to keep this blog fresh!

Right now Project Team is in the equivalent of baseball’s spring training (though it is summer), as we gear up for the Fall semester and another exciting “season” of Team. This year we will celebrate our EIGHTH anniversary, which is hard to believe. We hope to build on the solid foundation we have laid over the past seven years and continue to improve the quality of our program before we expand to new sites.

Our Board of Directors is in a period of transition and I must extend enormous gratitude to all of the past Board Members who have helped make Project Team what it is. We have an excellent group of people that are remaining on our Board as well, and we are looking to add two-three more Board members over the next several months.

We are certainly going to be very busy for the next month and a half and I will do my best to keep you all informed!

Greetings!

We at Project Team are gearing up for another year of work in after-school programs. This year we will be focusing on expanding our services in the Baltimore area and on networking with other local organizations. I am proud to say that Project Team is one the most cost effective organizations on the planet! We have continued to mentor hundreds of youth in the Northeast with no budget to speak of. While this is quite an achievement, we will also be working to gain further funding so that we may improve the quality of our services and work towards our long term goals of hiring a staff and eventually opening our own center in Baltimore. If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer, consultant, or friend, please contact me directly at jason@dbpt.org. Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,
Jason Woody
President, DBPT 

Dear Friends, Family, Colleagues:

Project Team has just received its 5th anniversary t-shirts! Make a contribution of at least $25 (you can do so by clicking on the ‘make a donation’ button on the top of the page) and we will send you this limited edition shirt right away!

This past Friday, several Project Team volunteers and friends stood in the center of Times Sq in New York City giving out free high-fives to strangers passing by. Though it was fun on its own, the event had a purpose- to spread awareness of Project Team and to refer people to this website. We handed out flyers with a brief description of the program and the web address. Thanks to all those that helped with the event and for the folks who stopped by to high-five us!

This past weekend, members of the Project Team Board of Directors traveled up to the Catskills Mountains in New York to discuss issues related to Project Team and plan for the future. The discussions were very fruitful and we have come up with what seems like an endless list of action steps to improve the organization. It is very exciting. Some of the topics discussed over the weekend included: Goals/Vision for Project Team, Development, Marketing, Curriculum, Metrics, Site Leader Support, and much more. It was certainly a big weekend for the program and together as a board, we have set the bar very high. We have an excellent group of committed board members and this year is sure to bring about a lot of great changes with Project Team. Also, stay tuned as we will be posting all of our notes from the retreat on the website.

Happy 4th of July all!

Sincerely,
Jason Woody
President, DBPT

We are throwing a party in honor of Project Team’s 5th Birthday in Brooklyn, NY!

Date: Saturday, April 19th, 200
Time: 9:00pm-5:00am
Location: Brooklyn, NY (email info@dbpt.org for exact address)
Cost: $10
Includes: All you can drink, totally awesome times!
Other: We will be making PANCAKES… raffle prizes… possible live music.

PLEASE COME!!

Project Team today was quite fun. We did an activity where we all got to learn some interesting things about each other. It started with volunteers writing down three facts about themselves on index cards (ie. Linh’s favorite food is BACON), then those facts were read aloud and the kids, who were already split up into groups of five had to decide as a group what facts matched which volunteer. They actually had a blast with it. The Y staff seemed to be having even more fun than the kids. Afterwards the kids got the chance to write down their facts and everyone guessed who matched what fact. This was a very simple activity and went over well. Its a good activity for us as we build stronger bonds with the kids. 

See you next week!
Jason 

Greetings,

Today we went back to P.S. 33 for Project Team after a one week absence. Natalie couldn’t make it due to work, but alas we forged on. There were 20+ kids today and as usual we had kids anywhere from 1st-5th grade. It is usually hard to find activities that appeal to all the kids when the ages vary so greatly. However I think we have been pretty successful with this so far.

After a quick chat we took the kids down to the gym where we first split them up into three groups to try the “human knot”. The two smaller groups were successful and I was impressed. Way to go. The main activity involved the kids working together to make different shapes, letters, numbers, anything using each person in the group. For example, we asked them to make the letter “M” and and they laid down on the floor connecting their bodies to form a “M”. Since we did this activity as one huge group, it was difficult for the kids to communicate and work together. It ended up being ok, but I think if we try this in the future we should use a maximum group size of 10 kids. There were a couple kids who took it upon themselves to lead the group and help get everyone into place. It was great to see.

Afterwards we had good bagels and Linh paid $4 for a few chunks of pineapple. Nice.

See you next week!

-Jason

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of Project Team! I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have supported me and more importantly this program. With your help we have been able to mentor hundreds of children across the region, teaching them that we all share common goals and by working together we will be more effective in reaching those goals. We have promoted acceptance across cultures, ages, backgrounds, and have done this in an innovative and fun way. We have helped kids identify their communities and the important roles that all have to come together in making life in the community safe and enjoyable. We have connected students at several universities and colleges for a positive cause and for some, Project Team has served as an introduction to community service. These are just a few of the highlights of our success thus far.

The work that we do continues to be dedicated to Deora Bodley, a young woman who tragically died aboard Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001. Deora’s life has served as an inspiration to me and to many others involved in the program. We are honored to have her mother, Deborah Borza, to be a part of our board of directors. As we move on to our next five years, we will continue to think about Deora and will try to set the kind of example that she set for us.

Please take the time to read over our newsletter which is attached to this email. I want to thank Emily Westlake for putting this together and I hope that this is something we will continue so we can keep all of you updated. Also, our website has a new design and added features thanks to the work of Joel Guilford and Natalie Podrazik over the past few months. You can view the site at http://www.dbpt.org.

Thank you all again; to the volunteers for their many hours of service; to the administration at Colby College and UMBC, especially the Shriver Center and Honors College; to our board of directors for their dedication to improving the program; and to our friends and families who have supported us and helped with new ideas.

Sincerely,
Jason Woody
President, DBPT