Meet Our Volunteers!

Current Volunteers

2007-2008 Academic Year

Julie Hunter:

Email: julie.c.hunter@gmail.com

Julia was born in Philadelphia but lived most of her life in Morristown, NJ, where she attended a small private high school, Morristown Beard School. She later went to Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. She spent her junior year abroad in Malaga, Spain, living with a Spanish family, interning with a Spanish lawyer, and attending school. She graduated in May 2007 with a double major in Political Science and Spanish. Hoping to unite her interest in politics with the Spanish language, she volunteered at a local immigrant resource center, Wind of the Spirit, where she helped plan informational workshops and events, researched and advocated immigration reform, translated and interpreted for clients, and taught English to migrant workers.

 

Jessica Schindler:

Email: schindler.jessica@gmail.com
Originally from Santa Cruz, CA, Jessica Schindler studied Human Development at Cornell University ´07.  She is working alongside a Dominican teacher teaching 1st grade in the mornings and Kindergarten in the afternoons at Puerto Cabarete.  She is also tutoring 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students who have reading difficulties, implementing parent groups, and organizing recess activities. In her free time she enjoys surfing, windsurfing, running, volleyball, reading, and exploring the island.

 

John George-Wheeler:

Email: johngeorgewheeler@gmail.com
 John George-Wheeler is 20 years old and from South Burlington, Vermont. He is currently taking time off from George Mason University, located in Fairfax, Virginia, where he has been studying international affairs. He found out about DREAM during high school when he was part of a student trip to Rio San Juan. There, he worked for a week on several different projects, providing positive change to a rural community. He also met several DREAM staff and decided he knew he would be coming back. In the DR he currently teaches first grade and kindergarten, an art class, helps out at a water sports class, and more. 

 

Eli Northrup:

Email: eli.northrup@gmail.com

Eli Northrup was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in Bethesda, MD.  He graduated from Walt Whitman High School in 2003 and moved on to Cornell University where he was a member of the Sprint Football team and the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.  In May 2007 he graduated from Cornell, earning a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Law and Society.

Eli began working with the D.R.E.A.M. project in 2006, assisting the executive director in the New York office. Upon graduation he moved to the Dominican Republic and took part in the 2007 Guzman Ariza Summer Camp.  He currently works in the new D.R.E.A.M. Center, helping to run the daily operations of the library, and teaching in the pre-school.  He also works at the Colonial Nueva school during recess, and is planning to help implement a basketball program in the Callejon.  After this year, Eli is planning to move to New York City to attend law school.

 

Lee Evans:

Email: evans.lee.a@gmail.com

Lee Ann Evans was born in Washington, DC on October 2, 1985. Evans grew up and went to school in nearby Chevy Chase and Bethesda, MD. She started studying Spanish at the age of 12 and has continued ever since. She went on to Cornell University, where she played Varsity Field Hockey for two years and then studied abroad in Valparaiso, Chile. She graduated in 2007 with a BA in Spanish and Anthropology, with concentrations in Law & Society and Latin American Studies.

Her first experience with the DREAM Project was in the summer of 2005, when she volunteered for the Guzman Ariza Summer Camp. Because DREAM's U.S. office is located in Ithaca, NY, she was able to continue working for the DREAM Project while back in the States. After completing what will be her third DREAM summer camp, she plans on returning to the U.S. for law school in the fall of 2008.

Ruth Kimball:

Email: solbelleza2@yahoo.com

 

Kathryn Frank:

Email: kfrank@email.unc.edu

Kathryn Frank is a recent graduate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill with BA in Psychology and Spanish. She arrived in the Dominican Republic in January and will remain here until June. Her family currently lives on the Outer Banks of North Carolina although she originally hails from Long Island. Post DREAM Project she plans on enrolling in graduate school to further her education.

Currently, she is the sole volunteer at Colonia Nueva, an elementary school in Cabarete, and her role is twofold. First, she is to serve as the link between DREAM and the school's parents, students and staff. This entails assessing the conditions of the buildings and materials, creating school records, supporting organized recess, encouraging use of the library, attending PTA meetings and implementing new rules and processes to help the school run more efficiently. Secondly, she has been paired with a Dominican school teacher and will work directly with her to create a more enriching classroom environment for her kindergarten-aged students.

Ben Chapman:

Email: chppy31@hotmail.com

Ben Chapman grew up in the Seattle area and is now a junior at Dartmouth College, where he studies math and physics.  He was initially attracted to DREAM, he says, because it provided him with an opportunity to live in a new place and practice his Spanish, while doing something he enjoyed. Working with kids occupies a large portion of Ben’s free time at Dartmouth. He’s coached local soccer, basketball, and rock climbing teams for grades 3-8 and also participates in a mentoring program that builds confidence and teaches life-skills by bringing youth into the outdoors.

As a DREAM volunteer, Ben runs the library/computer lab at Puerto Cabarete. During recess and before and after school, he checks out books to students and regulates computer usage.  While school is in session, he pulls small groups (1-4 students) out of class to tutor them in literacy and computer skills.

 

 

Past Volunteers

           2006-2007 Academic Year

Past Volunteer Testimonials

Katie O’Connor

Laura Matrka

Amy Feldman

John Rases

Alison Miles

Kathleen Szilagyi

Adam Kip

Robert Baca

Sophie Clifford

Andrew Bennett

Lydia Gilbert

Anne Marie Guzie

Reid Gooch