UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DREAM PROJECT

Monday, January 19, 2009

MLK Day of Service

Last Monday, members of the UW Dream Team went to Cheasty Greenspace on Beacon Hill to participate in the MLK Day of Service, run by the United Way of King County. We spent the morning and early afternoon working with EarthCorps representatives to clear invasive plant species from the Greenspace, one of Seattle's few remaining urban forests. Along with over 400 other volunteers from the community, we helped remove more than 46,400 square feet of invasive plant species 'over an acre' according to EarthCorps. But the true triumph of the day was the positive community-building time among Dream Team volunteers. It was an experience that bolstered the vital service the Dream Project does for the Seattle community, and we look forward to participating in more of these opportunities to strengthen the Dream Project's burgeoning group of public servants.

To read more about the Dream Project at the MLK Day of Service, see the article in the Daily: http://dailyuw.com/2009/1/20/more-just-day/.

Saturday and Sunday, November 1 and 2, 2008

Third Admissions Workshop Weekend

The UW Dream Project opened the doors of Mary Gates Hall on the first weekend of November 2008 to welcome local high school students onto the university campus for two days of dedicated work on college admissions essays and applications. This was the 3rd annual Admissions Weekend that the Dream Project has hosted. 83 students from 16 high schools in the South and North Seattle communities came onto the university campus to collaborate with Dream Team members and UW writing tutors in the drafting and refining of their personal statements for college applications. The event was a success, providing the high school students with multiple opportunities to build their college application portfolio through connections to current University of Washington students.

To read more about the University of Washington's freshman review process, see the Admissions website: http://admit.washington.edu/Requirements/Freshman/Review.

May 16, 2008

150 Dream Scholars visit UW campus for annual Dream Project Spring BBQ

On Friday May 16th, 2008 the Dream Project hosted its third annual Spring BBQ on the University of Washington campus. With over 150 Dream Scholars from our seven partner schools in attendance, the event was a great success. Dream Scholars were given the opportunity to sit in on a UW course and tour the campus with members of the UW Dream Team. The day culminated with a BBQ held in Haggett Hall, a residence hall on North Campus. The event served as a great way for the students to meet one another and to envision themselves on the UW campus someday.

May 1, 2008

Dream Project presents second annual "Live the Dream" scholarships

On Thursday, May 1st, 2008 the Dream Project awarded its 2nd annual “Live the Dream” Scholarships to nine Dream Project participants who will be attending the University of Washington in the fall. Regent Connie Proctor, and King County Councilmember Larry Gossett were among the community leaders in attendance. The evening followed the theme of “Our Inherited Dream” to honor those who had come before us, and to celebrate those who will lead in the years to come. The highlight of the night was the presentation of our nine scholarships as well as a plaque for each high school to commemorate the awardees. Two students shared their stories with the audience and one of our high school counselors shared her perspective. It was a night of emotion and great pride for our wonderful students. Congratulations to our scholarship winners!

January 21, 2008

Restoring salmon habitat on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

Members of the Dream Team made the MLK Day holiday a "day on" instead of a day off by helping to restore salmon habitat along the Cedar River. Over 35 volunteers planted 400 trees on a restoration site alongside the river. A King County ecologist was on hand to teach the Dream Project members about the importance of our restoration efforts, and everyone had a lot of fun getting a little dirty. Click on the picture at right for more.

January 14 – 16, 2008

Dream Project FAFSA Nights at high schools

The Dream Project hosted multiple "FAFSA Night" financial aid workshops at each of our six high schools during the second week of January. Dream Scholars who attended received the help of Kay Lewis, the Director of the Office of Student Financial Aid at the UW, other Financial Aid Advisors, and Dream Team Members. Nearly fifty students and their parents attended, most of whom walked out of the workshops with submitted FAFSA forms and a newly found confidence in being able to pay for college! In addition, the workshops gave parents a great opportunity to learn more about the financial aid process and work with their children to get all of their questions answered.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Dream Project and GMSA host first Scholarship Workshop Weekend

The Dream Project partnered with the Gates Millennium Scholars Association of UW to host the first annual Scholarship Weekend on January 5th, 2008, at the University of Washington campus. Thirty-five students from 12 different Seattle-area high schools attended, making this workshop a great success. Sam Lim, the Dream Project's foremost "scholarship guru," provided an in-depth presentation about how to find and apply for the best scholarships, and a computer lab in Mary Gates Hall was open for the students to work on applications with mentors and writing tutors from both the Dream Team and the GMSA. Over the course of the workshop, the diverse group of students who attended made considerable progress on scholarship essays and applications.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Dream Project featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education

The Chronicle of Higher Education, the major source of news for academia, featured the Dream Project in the December 14th issue of its weekly magazine. To read the article, please visit the Chronicle website:

Saturday and Sunday, November 3 and 4, 2007

Second Admissions Workshop Weekend a huge success

During the first weekend of November, over 100 high school seniors came to the UW to work on college applications and to research scholarships. The high schoolers worked with more than 40 UW Dream Project students and a dozen graduate writing tutors to brainstorm, write, and edit their personal statements. With many colleges and universities turning to a "holistic review" style of admissions, students are able to tell more about themselves and show who they are as individuals, beyond grades and test scores. One-on-one attention allowed the high schoolers to confidently put their best foot forward with their all applications. Many of the students attended both days and walked away with completed applications and personal statements.

To read more about the University of Washington's freshman review process, see the Admissions website: http://admit.washington.edu/Requirements/Freshman/Review.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

First "Live the Dream" Scholarships Presented

On Monday, April 9, the first "Live the Dream" Scholarships were presented to six Dream Project participants who will be attending the University of Washington in the Fall. The event took place in the Walker-Ames Room at Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. President Mark Emmert congratulated the recipients and a number of university administrators and community leaders were in attendance to support the students. Congratulations to all of them! Click here to meet all of the scholarship recipients.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Dream Project hosts first-of-its-kind Admissions Workshop Weekend

Students from six Seattle-area high schools gathered at the University of Washington's Mary Gates Hall for two days of intense application and essay work the weekend of October 21st and 22nd. Organized by the Dream Project, the event paired graduate writing tutor volunteers with the high schoolers for one-on-one help on application essays. Many students arrived Saturday morning with a blank piece of paper and left Sunday afternoon with a polished essay ready to submit with their application. To read more about the weekend, see the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Coming Up: Admissions Workshop Weekend

On Saturday October 21 and Sunday October 22 we are hosting Admissions Weekend on the UW campus in Mary Gates Hall from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This intensive workshop will be aimed specifically at fine tuning Dream Scholars’ college admissions essays and applications. At hand will be UW college admissions counselors, writing tutors, and Dream Team college students to help the Scholars finish the process. Parents/guardians are strongly encouraged to come to the informational portion of the event from 9:00 to 10:00 AM, which will be offered both days. This is an opportunity for parents and guardians to learn about the process that their Dream Scholars will be going through in the coming months and to find out how they can assist them in this process. Lunch will be provided for the students as well as plenty of computer space and essay tutoring classrooms. Be sure to join us for our first ever UW Dream Project Admissions Weekend event! For more information, download the Information Sheet.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to our inaugural group of Dream Scholars who are a few weeks into their senior year at Renton, Chief Sealth, and Foster High Schools! This year, our focus will be on college admission applications, financial aid, and scholarships. We will continue to partner up a couple times a week at each high school throughout the year to work on all the necessary steps for entrance to college.

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Summer EAN Test Prep Course a Success!

From late July to mid September, almost fifty UW Dream Scholars participated in the Education Access Network’s SAT/ACT test preparatory course. Every weekend and a couple days in between, the Scholars met up with the EAN teaching team on the UW campus to refresh their skills in math, grammar, and analytical reading in preparation for the October and November SAT and ACT tests. Teaching sessions often lasted from 9 AM to 4 PM, and included several real-time practice tests throughout the course. This is just one of the many steps that the Scholars have taken to ready themselves in applying to colleges and universities this fall. Scholars, good luck on the upcoming tests! And thank you to the Education Access Network for providing such a thorough and intensive refresher course for our Dream Scholars!

Friday, May 19, 2006

Dream Scholars visit UW campus

Thanks On Friday, May 19, the Dream Project hosted a campus visit at the University of Washington campus for all of the Dream Scholars. Over 75 high school students split into six groups to attend a UW class, tour the campus, and enjoy a BBQ at McCarty Hall. ASUW officers Lee Dunbar and Jon Lee helped man the grills and coach Lorenzo Romar and King County Council Member Larry Gossett spoke to the students. The Dream Project would like to extend a "thank you" to everyone who made the event possible.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Dream Project in the news