Supporting local girls since 2015
SIUMC DIBI Program
Letter from Gaithersburg HS in 2019
For the past four years, the Dream It Be It program has had a wonderfully positive effect on our students. Through this program, young ladies at our school have had the opportunity to participate with mentors, presenters, and advisors that come to GHS each week to share their insight and experience.
Our students have learned life principles that they will apply to their life today and in the future. It is not easy for high school students to give up their social time during lunch to learn, even if it is good for them. We have found that the young ladies who have participated in this program are committed and attend weekly, because they value the lessons learned, the cohort of peers and the volunteer mentors. Each week the students are engaged in varied activities as they receive important information and learn lifelong lessons.
We are thankful that the leaders of this program chose GHS as one of their schools and look forward to our continued partnership. Each cohort of young ladies has benefitted from the rich curriculum utilized. I highly recommend this program to high schools across the state of Maryland and the USA.
Mr. Cary Dimmick, Principal (March 2019)
Girls completed
girls went to college prior to COVID
SIUMC Volunteer Hours
scholarships awarded
Changes for a Changing World
2022-2023
We take feedback from the girls after each class. The in-person 8 week classes (1 day a week during lunch) resulted in multiple absences. With Zoom after school, many girls had conflicts with other activities and commitments. This year we went to one day programs with school permission and they have worked out well! We had very successful One-day Dream it Be It (DIBI) programs at Gaithersburg High School on October 26th and Quince Orchard High School on November 9. Nineteen girls participated in the program at Gaithersburg and 25 participated at Quince Orchard. Thanks to SIUMC mentors Sherri Barnett, Danielle Bograd, Debbie Blair, Monica Brame, Claudia Chitty, Johann Dretchen, Donna Jones, Linda Posilkin, Kathy Schulz, Shirley Myers, Nancy Gibbs, Geri Sliffman, and Nancy Leiby who provided the DIBI curriculum content and supported the creation of My Personal Plans for each participant. Many thanks to Camille Cauley, Recruitment and College Access Manager from Montgomery College and Daisy Faria & Briana Jones, GHS & QO College & Career Information Coordinators who provided substantive presentations. Special thanks to Shannon Phelan, Small Business Owner at Great Seneca Yoga who provided a 20 minute yoga session and Marjorie Lane & Bob Fischer, Owners of Brusters Real Ice Cream who provided a special treat to all participants.
Some of our mentors, participants, Yoga instructor volunteer, and Bruster's Ice Cream!
Handling COVID-19
What We Achieved
Because of the pandemic, in order to complete the last sessions of our Spring 2020 class, we ventured into the virtual environment and taught the last sessions online. Over that summer, a number of members led by Johann Dretchen tailored the curriculum for online sessions. We held our Fall 2020 DIBI sessions at 4 High Schools. In Spring 2021, we will held online sessions again, expanding to English Language Learners as well. As pandemic restrictions eased, we went back into the schools in 2022, modifying our curriculum to fit into a one-day class. This worked really well and we decided this is how we will continue for the 2022-2023 school year. We are excited to continue helping high school girls in these unprecedented times!