Grantees

A program specifically for at risk teens in Lamoille County for the summer.

Paran Recreations is dedicated to enhancing the health and well-being of rural children from low income families. Therefore our goal is to sustain the access of year-round outdoor and environmental education for our surrounding community focusing on youth populations by providing at least 25% of campers with a full funded scholarship to attend our camps throughout the year.

A summer technology program for students within the supervisory union.

The Highgate Library and Community Center is building a program dedicated to teens, ranging from age 12 through 19. This program, called "Teen Time" will take place once a week and provide the teens within our community a fun, educational after school program either in-person or virtually. "Teen Time" will focus on a different theme from week to week with a focus on STEAM, gaming, and craft projects. This program will provide teens an outlet for their creativity and will bring them together to form a greater sense of community and peer connection. It will give teens a fun social club after school that is focused on their educational, social, and emotional advancement.

The MINT is a makerspace for anyone who likes to make things. Our makerspace is open to kids of all ages, but kids and families have special tool and space needs that our adult-sized space is not set up to serve. The new MINT Kids and Family Makerspace will provide access to a special set of tools and equipment designed to be easy to learn and use by families. Programming will allow multi-generational family groups to spend time together making things. Kids will learn how to solve problems and gain the satisfaction that comes from making something useful with their own hands.

NCSU Encore serves nine rural schools in the Northeast Kingdom. We are launching The Neuro-Inclusive Collective, a specialized afterschool hub for middle schoolers (grades 6-8) on the autism spectrum and their peer allies. Located at the NCSU Family Center with support from their staff, this youth-led club provides a "third space" where neurodivergent students build genuine friendships, leadership skills, and community through shared interests. By providing door-to-door van transportation and expert staffing, we remove the barriers of rural isolation. Our goal is to ensure students on the spectrum are empowered to lead and thrive as they transition toward the centralized high school.

Young Writers Project (YWP) is an independent youth arts organization that began in 2006 in Burlington, VT, with a mission to inspire, mentor, publish, and promote young writers and artists. All programming is free. YWP has a vibrant online community of some 4,000 teens, mostly from Vermont. The Tomorrow Project is YWP's new civic engagement program in which teens create, publish, and exhibit their powerful writing and visual art on the issues of today – with hope and solutions for tomorrow. Youth, ages 13-19, connect with each other and their Vermont communities around issues such as democracy, human rights, and climate change.

Offers theatre-based activities specifically designed to allow youth with cognitive and physical disabilites the opportunity for self expression. The unique "reverse mainstream" model insures the students with disabilities the chance to dictate the pace and create a dominate atmosphere of inclusion.