"Green Eggs & Ham"--Intro Week 2011

Some of our Dance Outside the Box students!


Kelsey helping a DOTB'er with her vision board.

The first week of Dream Outside the Box 2011 was all about trying new things and getting to know new people! Our activity of the day was vision boards. Kids and volunteers scoured through magazines trying to find the perfect pictures to portray their "vision". The first day acted as a chance for all of the new Boys and Girls Club children to get to know all of DOTB's 2011 volunteers, and it was such a success! So many new friendships were made. Dream Outside the Box has a lot of great things coming up this year including DANCE OUTSIDE THE BOX. It's a new program we are holding with Missouri Contemporary Ballet. We provide dance classes for ten DOTB'ers each week. At the end of the semester, we will hold a dance recital! Stay tuned for updates on everything we have in store!

Week 4-- Aerials, Badminton, and Archery!!

Dream Outside the Box began the week with Badminton. The MU Women's Badminton Club came and gave half of the kids' a lesson in the sport. We had such a big group of children this week that we had to split the kids up and do two events. The second half of kids created a gymnastics/dance routine using the DOTB tumbling mats. You can find a video of the routine on our facebook page, just search for Dream Outside the Box and look for our logo!.





On Friday, we headed over to the Teen Center for a day with MU Archery! The kids shot bows and arrows (yes, real bows and real arrows) at a wall of hay and attempted to hit balloons. It was a wonderful opportunity, the kids did so well, some shot three, even four balloons! At the end of the day, we had a competition between the Dream Outside the Box volunteers, with Mr. Eric winning with two balloons shot. Check out an entire album of pictures from Archery Day on our Facebook page!

Week 3-- Personal Finance and Rugby. Oh, and Ice Cream!!!

Hi everyone!

Sorry it's been such a long time since we updated you all on our progress, we've been going through midterms around Mizzou and it's been kind of crazy. Please remember you can always find us on facebook or twitter for DOTB info as well.

Week three began with an Ice Cream and Personal Finance Day. The kids were given an amount of money to begin with ($15) and had to earn more money in order to buy the ingredients needed to make their own ice cream. ($35) The kids earned money by completing Dream Outside the Box-esque tasks, such as writing down their dreams and something they enjoyed doing in Dream Outside the Box. They could earn extra money by being on their best behavior or answering one of Ms. Maikieta's DOTB trivia questions! Then they could get extras on their ice cream, like flavors, sprinkles, or even M&M's. Overall, the kids learned money management, decision making, and teamwork. By the end of the day, children were giving money to others in need and helping each other out with Ms. Maikieta's difficult questions. The event wasn't meant to be a team exercise, but we always encourage teamwork among the kids. The day was great, even if it ended a little messy.

If you want to see all of our pictures, check out our facebook page for an entire album's worth!

A couple kids trying to answer Ms. Maikieta's trivia questions.

Ms. Bre and a few of the kids showing off their "cash".

"What is your dream?" "...To run my own shoe company."

On Friday, the MU Women's Rugby Club Sport team came out and gave our kids a lesson in rugby. The kids enjoyed learning about the international sport and had a great time. This was a continuation of our Alternative Athletic Series.

Week 2, Sabres and the Great Pumpkin.

En guarde...ready...fence!

That was the sound on the playground as Dream Outside the Box ushered in the second week of our second year. MU Fencing Club came back for a second time, after being in high demand by many DOTB kids. The children observed as they were taught key fencing terms, then watched duels between Fencing Club members. They were very animated about the duels, cheering for their favorites and even demanding rematches. We ended the day with a fun game of Fencing Simon Says. We will post pictures as soon as we have them available. Videos from this day are coming soon as well!

Peachtree Farm

On Friday of Week 2, DOTB took 30 children to the Peachtree Farm in Boonville. We had a great volunteer turnout, and between BGC workers and Dream Outside the Boxers, each child was allowed personal attention and interaction. Upon arrival, the kids took a hayride tour, then the tractor dropped everyone off at the pumpkin patch. Everybody picked out a personal pumpkin, some impatient volunteers even ripped theirs right from the vine! Afterwards, some kids went through the corn maze while others visited the different animals on the farm. It was all great fun and an amazing way for everyone to end their week.

Tori, Tia, and Thaddeus in the pumpkin patch.

Jahiarra and a few of the girls on the hayride.

Awesome Dream Outside the Box volunteers.

The volunteers, kids, and everyone's funniest face!

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @dotb_org!

Look for our fan page soon on Facebook!

And keep checking out the website for the newest information!

dreamoutsidethebox.org

See y'all next week!

Snakes, Oh My!

The new Dream Outside the Box year slithered on to a fantastic start on Thursday, September 23rd as men from the MU Herpetological Society brought a few "friends" to share with the children of DOTB, educating them and alleviating their fears. Initial fears were swept away by snakes, lizards and their helpers. DOTB Founder, Kam Phillips, was most proud of the children's insightful questions and hunger to learn more. MU Herpetological Society President, Quentin Hall, has dedicated his life to sharing their rockin' reptiles with the world, even rescuing those who have been mistreated or neglected. If you'd like to learn more about the MU Herpetological Society visit, http://www.muherpsociety.com/

Pictures from Etiquette Day (Launch of DOTB 2010)

First Meeting of the Year!!!!!!

Hey DOTB-ers!

We hope everyone enjoyed their winter breaks and are starting off the spring semester strong! With the new semester brings new ideas and our FIRST MEETING OF THE YEAR!!!! The meeting will be held in Stotler Lounge in Memorial Union at 7:30 pm on January 20th, 2010. We encourage new members to join us and old members to come prepared with ideas!

See You Guys There!!!