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Minutes 03-27-03M'rNUTES OF THE ADVZSORY BOARD ON CHI'LDREN AND YOUTH MEE'I'rNG HELD TN COMMI'SSI'ON CHAMBERS, cTrY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORZDA ON THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2003 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Steve Waldman, Chairman Mary Morera, Vice Chair .loyce O'Hara Shanna St. John Hattie Miller Lori Wilkinson Phyllis Stern, Alternate Willie Pearl Wilson, Alternate .lulie Claude, Student - Regular Voting Member .lessica Cohen, Student - Regular Voting IVlember Sherri Claude, Assistant to the Recreation Director Absent Elizabeth Vanderhorn z. Call to Order Chairman Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. zZ. I~toment of Silent Prayer/Pledge of Allegiance Ms..lulie Claude led the Board in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag after which there was a moment of silent reflection. III. Approval of I~tinutes of February 27, 2003 Notion Ms. O'Hara moved to approve the minutes. unanimously. IV. Approval of Agenda Chair Waldman added a presentation Announcements. f4otion Ms. St..lohn moved to accept the agenda as amended. motion that carried unanimously. Iris. Stern seconded the motion that carried by Ms. O'Hara to the agenda under Vice Chair Morera seconded the Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Bovnton Beach, Florida March 27,2003 V. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence Ms. Joyce O'Hara, on behalf of the American Legion Post 164 Women's Auxiliary, presented Chair Waldman with a $500 donation for the Youth Volunteer Banquet. She stated that they had also gotten money from the American Legion. VI. Public Audience None VII. Old Business A. Youth Volunteer Bank (Banquet May 31 at Civic Center) 1) Sponsor Update Ms. Sherri Claude stated that they had received a donation of $1,000 from the American Legion, $100 from Mr. Larry Finkelstein, and two in-kind donations (Museum of Discovery and Science and Butterfly World). Ms. Willie Pearl Wilson stated that she had gotten a $15.00 gift certificate from the Winn Dixie on Military Trail. Ms. Wilson had given a contact name for Eckerd to Miss Sherri Claude who wrote them a letter soliciting sponsorship, and received a response that their funds were committed elsewhere. Chair Waldman will contact Benvenuto and Torchio's for donations. Tastefully Yours responded that they had provided the baskets for the Mother's Day Tea and could not donate twice. Ms. St. John asked if letters had been sent to the candidates to see if they had funds left over from their campaign accounts. Ms. Sherri Claude stated that she had prepared some for Chair Waldman but Chair Waldman advised that they had not been sent out. Ms. Sherri Claude will e-mail them to Chair Waldman for his signature. Chair Waldman thought a letter of invitation should also go to Congressman Alcee Hastings and his aide, Dan Liltman. B. Bob Borovy Award 1. Applications Ms. Sherri Claude stated that she had received only one application and that had to be returned since the student lived outside the corporate City limits. The Board was amazed that there had been so little response to the Award. Chair Waldman will make a personal visit to the guidance counselors to actively solicit applications. The previous year there were seven to eight applications. Chair Waldman asked Ms. Cohen to try to get a message into the daily announcements at the Boynton Beach High School. Ms. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Bovnton Beach, Florida March 27, 200~ Jessica Cohen and Ms. Julie Claude offered to take applications to school and give them to the guidance counselors at Boynton Beach High School. Ms. Stern suggested and the Board agreed to extend the deadline to apply for the Bob Borovy Award until April 18, 2003. 2. 3udges Chair Waldman asked Ms. Sherri Claude whether she had heard anything from the judges. Ms. Claude responded that she had heard from Ms. Christie Milsted but not from the other two. Chair Waldman asked Ms. Sherri Claude to contact Mrs. Emily Borovy to be a judge. The Board noted that the advertisement in the Boynton Beach High School newsletter, The Bengal Beat, indicated that applications would be available in November for the Bob Borovy award and that this was a possible source of confusion. C. Bowling Tournament Chair Waldman stated that the tournament would be on July 27 at the Boynton Beach AMF Lanes. D. Tennis Carnival, April :L2, 2003, 2-4 p.m., Hunter's Run Vice Chair Morera stated that this event was ready to be held. Hunters Run was reserving three tennis courts and three pros for ten children per court. The children will be divided according to age. She had heard of three or four children that were interested so far. Vice Chair Morera will provide drinks and the' tennis pro will provide a snack like Power bars with no nutsi Vice Chair Morera stated that it was advertised at the Art Center, the Civic Center, the Boynton Beach Library, the Wilson Center, the Ezell Hester Center, and City Hall in the Mall. She had also put a "blurb" in her neighborhood newsletter. She requested that the two student members put a "blurb" on their bulletin boards at school if possible. Ms. St. John suggested asking the Palm Beach Post to put it in "Best Bets." Chair Waldman will take some fliers to the elementary and middle schools. Ms. Miller will take fliers to Galaxy and Poinciana Elementary. E. Teen Center Chair Waldman announced that the Board would be visiting the Delray Beach Teen Center after the formal meeting was concluded. F. Guest Speakers None 3 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Bovnton Beach, FIQrida March 27, 200,t G. Other Ms. Wilkinson suggested that the Board send a condolence card to former mayor Jerry Taylor on the recent loss of his 15-year old grandson. The Board agreed and Ms. Wilkinson offered to get the card. Ms. Stern noted that Mr. Maurice Rosenstock was getting better and it was hoped that he would one day be able to resume his membership on City boards. Ms. Sherri Claude asked and the Board agreed to make telephone calls to the volunteers who had not yet turned in their hours for the Youth Volunteer Bank. Chair Waldman recognized the presence in the audience of Commissioner Carl McKoy and welcomed him to the meeting. Commissioner McKoy toured the Delray Beach Teen Center with the Board. VIZI. New Business A. Tour of Delray Beach Teen Center See attachment. Future Meeting Dates: April 24, 2003 May 22, 2003 Ms. Hattie Miller expressed concern that she had been unable to get into the building for the March meeting, but was present. Chair Waldman asked that the meeting minutes reflect this and that the absence not be counted against Ms. Miller. X. Adjournment The formal meeting ended at 7:30 p.m. and the Board members were taken to the Delray Beach Teen Center by bus. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (one tape) (040103) Attachment (1) Tour of Delray Beach Teen Center 4 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Bovnton Beach, FIQrida March 27, 200,~ Tour of Delray Beach Teen Center The Board met at the Delray Beach Teen Center with the supervisor of the Teen Center, an employee of Delray Beach, who led the group on a tour of the Center. The Center has billiard tables, ping pong tables, computers, a television "lounge," a video game area, a kitchen, a snack area, a staff room, and a vending machine area. A full basketball court is an attraction outside. They plan to add a regular skate park and barbecue grills in the next few months. They have a movie night every other Wednesday, featuring the latest PG-13 movies. Every other Thursday they offer a tutoring program. They hoped to have community involvement activities for the youth as well. There are two full-time and one part-time staff members. The Center serves youth ages 12 to :[9. Ms. Lula Butler, Director of Community Improvement at the City of Delray Beach, stated that she had helped to form the Youth Council on a volunteer basis and had participated in it for the last eight years. Their Youth Council has an average attendance of 35 people at each meeting. Ms. Wilkinson asked whether the youth who attended the Center were at-risk children and Ms. Butler responded that there were all types of youth at the Center, including the high achievers from the Youth Council. Ms. Butler stated that the Youth Council focuses on civic involvement and acts in an advisory capacity to the City Commission in Delray Beach, making recommendations regarding youth activities and programs that should be funded. The Youth Council envisioned a safe place where they could go that did not have too many rules. They wanted to have a place where they could go and look for openings on the bulletin board if they wanted to do part-time work, volunteer work, or babysitting. They also wanted their parents to feel comfortable about the place in which they would be "hanging out". The Coordinator and Ms. Butler both stressed the importance of keeping the youth and the entire community involved from start to finish. The youth spoke with the architect who designed the Center and gave their guidance and input. The City funded $220K and they got $:[00K from Palm Beach County for the Center. Ms. Butler stated that the City gives her about $5K a year for the program. Richwagen Bicycle Shop was also very instrumental in making the improvements to the Center. The Woman's Club still meets at the Center on a regular basis but felt that they were not using the facility up to its capacity and so they offered the space for the use of the teens. The Woman's Club was very supportive of the activities of the teens and had volunteered to assist by tutoring and other activities. Mr. Mike Davie, president of the Youth Council, joined the group and also Mr. Rich Connel, Assistant Director for Parks and Recreation in Delray Beach. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children & Youth Bovnt0n Beach, Florida March 27, 2003 The early stages of the effort to establish the Center were discussed. Ms. Butler stated that when they were trying to find a way to get the youth to come to the Center, they conducted interviews and asked everyone: "What is the biggest thing that you think is missing for teens in this town?" Everyone, regardless of where they came from, stated that the thing that was missing was a safe p/ace for kids to come, interact, and just hang out/ a p/ace that they could enjoy and with which their parents could he comfortable. Ms. Butler explained her philosophy of working with the youth by saying that while adult leadership was important, if the youth were to be empowered, an adult could not proceed to dictate every detail of the way things would be. IVls. Butler stated that this project had come about as a result of Delray Beach's Visions 2005. Chair Waldman asked Ms. Butler about fund-raising activities. The Youth Council does a variety of fund-raising activities to enhance the programs at the Center. Ms. Butler stated that they also did the Coke sales for large events such as the 4th of .luly, the Hot Air Balloon Race, and so forth. They were able to raise enough money the previous year to give four $500 scholarships to their graduating seniors and planned to double that this year. Also, the Youth Council has a good relationship with the Target organization that has given them a $15K grant for the past two years. Target also donated some Playstations and video games to the Center. At 9:00 p.m. the tour concluded with Delray Beach issuing invitations for the Board to return and offering to help assist Boynton Beach in any way possible to set up a Teen Center of its own.