Nicole Nicholson, Carolee Cline, Evangeline Dussault, Dakota Holman, Myra Ingram and Shannon Lawrence

"Project DREAM" (Developing Relationships and Encouraging Academic Milestones) is the winning program Nicholson and her teammates created to expose 20 male, academically-challenged and disadvantaged students to grade appropriate multicultural children's literature. Primarily a literacy program, "Project DREAM" will expose students to various types of genre (fiction, non-fiction, expository, etc.) and use reading/discussion logs to interpret their understanding of the literature. To enhance students' classroom instruction and life experiences, a presenter from the community will come to the school, or a field trip will be planned each month for academic and cultural exposure. The program is designed to motivate the students to do their very best, while teaching them character development (honesty, responsibility, persistence, etc.), resiliency, and how to react more appropriately in difficult situations.