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Minutes 08-23-01 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH CITY HALL CHAMBERS, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2001 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Shanna St. John, Chairperson Steve Waldman, Vice Chairman Dorothy Davis Evelyn Geathers Hattie Miller Lori Wilkinson Phyllis Stern, Alternate (Voting at this meeting) Willie Pearl Wilson, Alternate Carlos Masso, Student Absent Mary Morera Spencer Calder, Student I. Call to Order Chairperson St. John called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. II. Moment of Silent Prayer - Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag The members observed a moment of silent prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag led by Carlos Masso. III. Approval of July 26, 200t Minutes Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to approve the minutes of the July 26, 2001 meeting. Ms. Davis seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. Approval of the Agenda Motion Vice Chair Waldman moved to approve the agenda as written. Mr. Masso seconded the motion that carried unanimously. Meeting MinUtes ' Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida August23,2001 V. AnnounCements/Presentations/Correspondence 1) Hope Killingsworth of the Boynton Beach Business Club, Inc., enlisted the support of the Board concerning F.A.M.E., Funding Arts & Music Education. There will be a walk-a-thon to benefit the Arts and Music Education Departments at the new Odyssey Middle School in Boynton Beach on November 10, 2001 at 9:45 a.m. The school is having a picnic in the afternoon, following the walk-a-thon, They were soliciting participation in the form of 1) sponsorship/contributions, 2) donation of products or services for goodie bags, or 3) walking in the event for monetary pledges. The Board suggested that Ms. Killingsworth contact school PTOs and SACs, Wally Majors, neighborhood homeowner associations; and talk with the Business Partnership (BIPS) Coordinators at the schools. 2) Chair St. John announced that there would be an Open House and tour of the campus at Odyssey Middle School on Thursday, October 2, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. She commented on the beauty of the school, saying that there were murals on the walls throughout the school. VI. NEW BUSINESS None VII. OLD BUSINESS A. Bob Borovy Award/Scholarship Discussion (previously tabled) The Board discussed the $5K allocation to the Board from Commissioner Fisher's discretionary funds for a scholarship award. The other Commissioners agreed with the proviso that it be a City award. Vice Chair Waldman interpreted this to mean that the individuals would have to be residents of the City of Boynton Beach. Mr. Waldman sent the Commissioners a copy of the eligibility requirements for the award, changing the name to the City of Boynton Beach Bob Borovy Student Citizen Award and stating that the recipient of the award must be a resident of Boynton Beach. The Board preferred to keep the name of the award as it has been, listing the City of Boynton Beach as a sponsor. The Board expressed appreciation to Commissioner Fisher and the City for their generosity. The prevalent hope on the Board was that the award eligibility could be expanded to include student citizens who contributed significant volunteer service to the City of Boynton Beach, regardless of their City of residence, perhaps using attendance at a Boynton Beach school as an alternate requirement. Ms. Stern wanted to incorporate the western Boynton communities as well. Everyone seemed to agree that the issue merited further discussion with the City and Chair St. John offered to discuss it with Mr. Bressner and report back to the Board. She was also to clarify whether or not the allocation of money would be an annual or one-time event. Last year's winner, Christina Milsted, suggested some changes to the eligibility requirements. Vice Chair Waldman solicited the input of the Board members on these changes. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida 1) That the application specifically request a list involvement, position, hours spent, and accolades. August 23, 2001 of community The current form states that the student must have done significant volunteer work and made meaningful contributions to the City of Boynton Beach, his or her school community, religious community, or social service organization, and provide evidence of this involvement. The service could span any number of years. The Board agreed with this addition to the application. 2) An acceptable transcript of grade point averages It was felt that someone might not do well in school but be a significant contributor to the community. The prevalent feeling on the Board was that the award was meant to reward service and not necessarily a certain level of academic achievement. The question of moral character, another requirement, came up and whether someone who had a problem in the past could be submitted as a candidate. It was concluded that someone who had turned his or her life around and made significant contributions to society would certainly be considered for the award and that supporting documentation could accompany the application. Bob Borovy Student Citizen Award - Cash or Savings Bond? In past years, the first place winner was given a $1,000 savings bond and the other two award recipients were given $250 savings bonds. The Board had to decide the type and amount of the award. A lengthy discussion ensued and many opinions were expressed on this subject. Some favored savings bonds, some favored cash. Some felt that bonds would not provide assistance at a time when it would be most useful. Some wanted the money to be used for educational purposes and others believed the way the money was used should be up to the recipient. Many of the speakers thought that the recipients were responsible people and would use the money wisely, regardless of the form in which the money was presented. Chair St. John stressed the importance and necessity of individual Board members soliciting sponsorships for Board-generated events. Motion Vice Chair Waldman moved to give $500 cash awards to the first place winner and $200 each for the other two award recipients. Ms. Stern seconded the motion. During discussion, some felt this amount was too small but Chair St. John thought that $500 was a lot of money for a child and they could change it the following year if they wanted to. Many of the members felt that they did not want to have a higher award one year and less the following year. Others felt that if the Board had the money in a given year they could offer it and if they did not, they could offer a lesser amount and give some other 3 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2001 kind of recognition to the second and third place winners. Others felt that there should not be second and third place winners. The motion failed 3 to 5 (Dorothy Davis, Evelyn Geathers, Hattie Miller, Lori Wilkinson, Willie Wilson, Carlos Masso dissenting). Motion Ms. Miller moved to award $1,000 cash to the first place winner. Mr. Masso asked to amend the motion to give $250 to the second and third place winners, for a total expenditure of $1500. This was acceptable to Ms. Miller. Vice Chair Waldman seconded the motion that carried 6-2 (Chairman St. John, Ms. Stem dissenting). Ms. Wilkinson suggested that to avoid any possible bias on the part of the judges, the applicant,s name should be "blanked out" on the copy of the application that went to the judges, possibly identifying each application by number. Yussif Achmed, President of South Florida Rainbow Tennis Association (SFRTA), spoke to the Board. The first SFRTA tournament was held last year at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. Mr. Achmed was seeking sponsorships for an Open tournament they wanted to have in Boynton Beach. Their goal was to help inner-city youth learn tennis, build character, and have mentors through tennis. He had seen tennis change lives. Mr. Achmed wanted to have a Kids Day at the Hester Center where the youngsters could come and meet Venus and Serena. He also hoped to initiate a tennis after-school program at Hester Center and restore the tennis courts at Sara Sims, with the help of some grant money and the USTA. Ms. Stern offered to introduce Mr. Achmed to a pro player who lives at Hunter's Run who might be interested in the program. She also thought Hunter's Run might want to include a tennis event in its annual Games Day. Vice Chair Waldman offered to distribute fliers, when available, to the schools to help publicize the program. It was suggested that Mr. Achmed contact Wally Majors in the Recreation Department and also the Tourism Board, who sometimes gave assistance to people who increased t°urism in Florida. Ms. Geathers will be the contact point on the Board for this effort. B. Advisory Board Forum This was tentatively scheduled for October 27, 2001 at the Library from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Later in the meeting it was suggested that the meeting be set up for November 17. Vice Chair Waldman will handle the room arrangements and Ms. Wilkinson offered to head up a committee to handle this along with Phyllis Stern, Steve Waldman, and Carlos Masso. The Boards who participate in this;are Recreation & Parks, Community Relations, Education Advisory, Sr. Advisory Board and Advisory Board on Children & Youth. The forums are meant to serve as a vehicle for sharing and exchanging information between the City boards. 4 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2001 C. Volunteer Project at Rolling Green - November '10 and 17 Chair St. John said that the dates conflicted with the Boy Scouts Food Pick Up Days. Ms. Geathers said an appointment needed to be set with Principal Voss and that she had noticed a lot of renovations going on at Rolling Green. The building the Board thought of doing murals on has now been painted and it seemed that the project would have to focus on the garden aspect of the project. Chair St. John offered to meet Ms. Voss with Ms. Geathers. D. Youth Volunteer Bank Vice Chair Waldman had sign-up forms and had requested a meeting on Monday with Dr. Cornnell at the new high school to acquaint him with the program and enlist his support. He gave some forms to Mr. Masso who was going to be the point person for Atlantic High School and also Forest Park Elementary. Chair St. John offered to take the forms to Odyssey Middle School. Vice Chair Waldman offered to take the forms to Christa McAuliffe, Citrus Cove, and Santaluces. Ms. Stern offered to take the forms to Congress Middle School. Ms. Davis offered to take the forms to Poinciana and Galaxy. Ms. Geathers will handle Rolling Green. Day care centers and churches should also receive forms and Ms. Wilkinson will take some to Royal Palm School. The information will be forwarded to Wayne Segal for publication in the City. Ms. Wilkinson will contact the Boynton Times and try to get the event on the Notables calendar. Chair St. John suggested that the Board put together an information sheet for distribution to the schools with the sign-up sheets for the Youth Volunteer Bank. The information sheet would list the various programs of the CYAB along with a name and phone number of a contact person. All agreed this would be a good idea. The budget for this item was over-expended by $462.09, so fund raising efforts were crucial to the success of the event. The Board typically spends about $1500 each year for this program. The City does provide some money each year through the Recreation Department budget. Publix donated $1K for the two years previous to last year but they did not donate last year. They will be asked again for 2002. Many of the tasks associated with this function will be taken over by the Recreation Department in years to come but this Board will still be guiding the program and doing fund-raising for it. The Board discussed the details of a fund-raising letter. It was decided that the letter would list all the programs offered by the Board. A statement would be inserted that the money would go towards any and all of the programs unless the donor wished to specify a particular program. Also, the letter would stress that donations did not have to take the form of cash but could be in-kind, certificates, and discounts. Ms. Davis felt that all of the Boards should be working together with this Board to raise money for these youth-oriented programs. She favored putting on a big fund-raising event so they would have money to support the Board's programs and activities. Chair Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Boynton Beach, Florida August 23, 2001 St. John said that the Community Relations Board was the only other Board that did hands-on community projects. E. Youth Expo 2002 No date had been set for this event but it is usually held in November. Letters had to be sent out to former sponsors: Washington Mutual, Hunter's Run, and Palm Beach Post, to ascertain if they still wished to sponsor the event. Chair St. John remarked on what a wonderful job Ms. Sherri Claude, Assistant to the Recreation Director, had done with this event this year. F. Youth Council This item will be discussed at the next meeting. G. Teen Center This item will be discussed at the next meeting also. H. Other Vice Chair Waldman asked that the visiting speaker program be revived and that it be discussed at the Board's next meeting. Mr. Masso reported that he had submitted a resignation from the Board but that the situation had changed and he wanted to rescind that resignation. He was directed to contact the City Clerk's office with that information. Vice Chair Waldman will call Spencer Calder's parents to remind him about turning in a resignation from the Board since he is now in college. VIII. Next Meeting The next meeting will be on September 20, 2001. IX. Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recording Secretary (three tapes) (08/28/01)