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Minutes 01-27-00MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2000 AT 6:00 P.M. PRESENT Shanna St. John, Chairperson Bob Borovy Dorothy Davis Charles Fisher Hattie Miller Mary Morera Stephen Waldman, Vice Chair Amy DeVries, Student Amanda Hollis, Student Laura Henley-Shephard, Voting Alternate Steven Kuehn, Non-Voting Member I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson St. John called the meeting to order at 6:12 P.M. II. MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairperson St. John called for a moment of silent prayer and requested that Steven Kuehn lead the Pledge of Allegiance. III. APPROVAL OFAGENDA Motion Bob Borovy moved to approve the Agenda. Motion seconded by Stephen Waldman, which carried unanimously. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion Amy DeVries moved to approve the minutes of the December 16, 1999 meeting. The motion was seconded by Charles Fisher and carried unanimously. V. ANNOUNCEMENTS, PRESENTATIONS, CORRESPONDENCE Chairperson St. John indicated that the packets of information given to each Board member contained Children's Defense Fund information. Also in the packet was information on the Family & Medical Leave Act which provides unemployment benefits for mothers and is active in Congress at this time. MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27,2000 Chairperson St. John passed out pens and Certificates of Appreciation for Invaluable Service to the City from the Mayor of Boynton Beach to all Board Members, Alternates and Students. As part of the Youth Council dance the Board sent letters to legislators and celebrities asking for their views on youth violence. Many thoughtful letters were received. Some of the respondents were Mayor Broening, Marshall Gage, Chief of Police, Robert Butterworth, Attorney General State of Florida, various members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, A.J. MacClean from the Backstreet Boys, and Donald Trump's assistant, Board member's perusal was invited. Board members stepped forward to assist the Chairperson in the dissemination of various certificates and letters that required delivery. A baby gift was presented to Mary Morera by the Board members. PUBLIC AUDIENCE Bob Borovy introduced his guest, Kramer Hagen, the Boys State Chairman for the American Legion, Post 164 in Boynton. VII. OLD BUSINESS The Board reviewed all its plans and programs for the current year. The calendar follows: February: Green Market 5th; Black Awareness Corporate Challenge TBA; Open Forum Meeting in Library, 19th; Boca Youth Summit planning meeting 21st March: Green Market, 4th; GALA 17th - 19th; Regular meeting 23rd; CDF Conference 25th- 28th; Workshop TBA; Boca Youth Summit 31st April: Green Market 22nd; Commission Presentation TBA; Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 27th May: Youth Volunteer Bank Banquet 13th; Bob Borovy Student Award 13th; Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 25th June: Stand for Children at Commission Meeting 6th; Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 22nd, speaker Betty Williams July: August: September: October: November: December Bowling Tournament TBA; Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 27th Volunteer Project TBA; Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 24th Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 28th Workshop TBA; Regular meeting 26th Youth Expo TBA; Meeting/Awards Ceremony 30th Regular meeting 28th VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. Florida Learn and Serve-K-12 Project Descriptions Stephen Waldman, Vice Chair, advised receipt of the Florida Learn and Serve K-12 Project Descriptions. It grants awards to schools, school districts, and community-based organizations MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27,2000 to engage K-12 students in service-learning activities. Vice Chair Waldman will go through it and highlight the projects so this Board can apply for funding. B. Homeowners Association Cover- Coloring Contest at GALA Charles Fisher asked that the Board look at having a contest as part of the Children's Youth Advisory Board's table at GALA. Children could be asked to "Draw My Neighborhood", "Draw My House" and the winning design could be used as a cover for the homeowners' association book Dan DeCarlo is preparing. C. Black Awareness Games - Board Participation Charles Fisher stated there would be a contest for corporations at the upcoming Black Awareness Games and suggested the Board participate. Mr. Fisher moved that the Advisory Board on Children and Youth submit a team to participate in Black Awareness games. Vice Chair Waldman seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Charles Fisher amended the motion to read that: the Advisory Board on Children and Youth submit a team to participate in Black Awareness games, with the entry fee of $10.00 being expended by the team. The amended motion was seconded by Mr. Waldman and unanimously approved by the membership. Mr. Waldman will get the names of people for the team and submit them. D. Bob Borovy Student Citizen of the Year Award The final amount of the award is undecided. Vice Chair Waldman will be contributing $25 and the rest of the Board may contribute as well. The Board's account has over $4,000 per Chairperson St. John. Funding to be solicited from local organizations. It was decided to present the award at the Youth Volunteer Bank Banquet on May 13. Changes in the Announcement were discussed. The Board wanted a Biography of Bob Borovy included in the award announcement. A major issue surfaced as to the potential applicants for the Bob Borovy Award and their residential addresses. Many felt that they should be allowed to apply if they had a Boynton Beach address while others felt that it should include the western portion of Boynton Beach. Charles Fisher moved that the Bob Borovy Student Citizen of the Year award be limited to students whose residential address is within the City limits of Boynton Beach, seconded by Hattie Miller. The Chairman called for a show of hands and the vote was 5-5. It was determined that the Student, Steven Kuehn, a regular non-voting member, had participated in the vote. The Chairman asked for a new vote, which culminated in a tie.4-4. The Chairperson and Steven Kuehn did not vote in the second vote. The Chairperson, Shanna St. John, broke the tie by casting her vote against the motion, which then failed 5-4 .The application Criteria, then, will be that the student have a Boynton Beach address, regardless of whether it falls within the City limits of Boynton Beach. This issue will be addressed in more detail at a Workshop. 3 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27,2000 E) Re-Visitation of Current Programs: Need for Improvement? a) Youth Expo Everyone agreed that there needed to be a lot more follow-up with the schools after the Board's material is in its hands. Also, material needs to go to the schools at the end of the school year so they can plan for the upcoming year and again when school reconvenes. Send to individual department heads, particularly guidance counselors. b) Contests Doing five this year: art, creative writing, photography, science and drama and all agreed to keep doing them. c) Entertainment Everyone was happy with this area. Fine tuning can take place at workshop and Board members will come to workshops prepared to discuss this. d) Youth Volunteer Bank Chairperson St. John asked everyone for the five names of people who might serve as financial contributors to youth programs. All agreed to bring to the Youth Expo Workshop. This is a City program administered by the Advisory Board on Children & Youth. It needs to have more sponsors. Chairperson St. John said it was time to ask the City Commission to put this in the budget. e) Volunteer Project - Beautification On the calendar for August. Suggested area is a community park near the Rolling Green School. Possibilities include xeriscaping, painting the playground equipment (now covered with graffiti) and whatever else the group, in conjunction with John Wildner of Parks, decides is necessary. Chairperson St. John requested that the Board members all drive by the park and see it for themselves. f) ) Children &Youth Website Chairperson St. John asked everyone for updates of their e-mail addresses. Charles Fisher agreed to a monthly update of the Board's web page as long as the data was keyed when he received it. g) Youth Council Need more mentors from outside this board. Also, Leisure Services department should provide someone to open the door for the Youth Council meetings. Can search for mentors via a sign- up list at GALA. It was suggested the Board set up a booth at the upcoming Faith-Based Organization's festival. The student members gave input on the Stop the Violence dance. The dance was attended by approximately 50 people and was a fun event. Betty Williams was there and the girls signed up to work with her at a later date. The Youth Council voted to endorse a statement of Betty Williams written by the students for the protection of children and their rights. The students wanted to have a Candidates Forum to question the candidates about their stands on issues of young people It was suggested the students contact Teresa Lepore, Supervisor of Elections, for the proper procedure to follow in inviting the Candidates. h) Open Forum Invitations have been sent to the Boards. The Youth Council is not specifically invited but their presence is welcomed and they can speak at Public Forum at any time. It was decided to address the Beautification Project (Bob Borovy), Youth Council Dance (Amy DeVries), Youth Volunteer bank,(Chairperson St. John), forming Youth Council, (Vice Chair Stephen Waldman). 4 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27,2000 It was decided that to continue asking other Boards to the Open Forums was a good idea even though they do not always attend. Vice Chair Stephen Waldman offered to call the Chairs of the other Boards to invite personally. Bob Borovy asked that Parks be included in the invitation. i) Children's Defense Fund Conference Chairperson St. John is going to the conference this year and invited anyone interested to accompany her. The Board contributed last year and any contributions this year would be greatly appreciated. The Chairperson is going to try to get a student to attend to take advantage of the special training for youth available at the Conference. j) Commission Presentation Vice Chair Stephen Waldman will work with Charles Fisher on this presentation. Mr. Waldman will also put together a request and submit to the City Manger's office. k) Green Market The Chairperson said more participation from the Board was in order. Charles Fisher will pick up the bread on Thursday, February 3, and Chairperson St. John will pick up on Friday, February 4. I) Bowling Tournament Group agreed to continue doing the tournament. Mr. Waldman will follow up on this project. m) GALA The group decided to sell plants, have a coloring contest and seek mentors at its GALA booth. The Board must commit to attend. The Youth Council will help. n) Youth Summit: The Boca's Promise is having Youth Summit on March 31. Chairperson St. John expressed wish for this Board to participate and Mr. Waldman will coordinate with Ms. Thrasher. o) Public Relations The Chairperson asked for assistance with putting together press packets. Bob Borovy and Dorothy Davis offered to help. The Post's new local community section was pointed out as a potential place to publish information. p) Stand for Children This will be done in June. Last year the Board joined with one of the child care centers, Kid Stop. The Chairperson has sent away for the packet but has not received it yet. q) Guest Speakers Betty Williams is the only one definitely on the calendar. Mr. Waldman is trying to get someone else. Children's Services Council would be a good one too. It was decided to have each board member take a month and obtain a guest speaker. The months were divided up and the board members named for each month. March - Charles Fisher; April - Bob Borovy; May - Dorothy Davis; June - Vice Chair Waldman; July - Student; August - Hattie Miller; September - Laura Henley-Shephard; October - Mary Morera, November - not needed; December- Chairperson Shanna St. John. F) Goals, Duties, Development of Programs Reference Sec 2-117: Duties (1) Development of Programs that Promote Ongoing Relationships with Caring Adults: A teen center is needed. A mentoring program is needed. Perhaps the seniors could mentor. (2) Involving Parents, Business Community, Civic and Neighborhood Organizations: Chairperson reminded the Board that a database needed to be developed with all the neighborhood associations and their contact people so those with common interests for children could be contacted. The Chairperson asked Hattie Miller to pull together a list of the various 5 MEETING MINUTES ' ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUth BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27, 2000 churches and synagogues in Boynton and their respective Youth Department contact persons including names, telephone numbers, and addresses for our database. Dorothy Davis said she would help Ms. Miller with this task. (3) Safe Places and Structured Activities in Non-School Hours: A Teen Center is needed. Also, outside organizations such as the ice-skating rink and cultural facilities which provide a place for children and families to recreate must be brought into the community. The focus of the City should be changed from that of a marine-based community to a family-based community. Charles Fisher said the Commissioners needed to lobby for this. (4) Identification and Dissemination of Information on Local Programs: This involves putting something together that tells what resources are available in Boynton Beach for Children and Youth. Laura Henley-Shephard suggested the Board could put information in a City publication such as Fun Fare, Visions,Views and City News or Bob Borovy suggested it could be mailed out with water bills. G) Goals for 2000 Group revised the Goals document by changing item 3 from "Continue support of the creation of a Boynton Beach Youth Council" to "Continue support of the Boynton Beach Youth Council". The other goals were all agreeable to the group. Necessity of improving the relationships with the other Boards was brought out. The Chairperson has asked Melody Green to contact the other Board's liaisons and obtain agendas of their meetings and notification when the other Boards have speakers that may be of interest to this Board. Dorothy Davis remarked that the Education Board should work more closely with this Board and that each Board should attend the other's meetings on a regular basis. H) Boynton Beach Task Force on Children & Youth This document was given to each of the Board members as a reminder of the reasons this Board was formed and the issues the Board needs to address. The original focus of the Task Force was child care centers. The Chairperson offered to get the Child Care Resource and Referral report on child care issues. The current issues seem to be 1) need for Teen Center; 2) child care; 3) lack of places for sick children; and 4) not enough time, energy or money being spent on programs. The City is concentrating on development whereas the quality of life should be the main goal of the City Commission. I) Teen Center Dorothy Davis asked why the Commission did not focus on the Teen Center. Charles Fisher said that City Commissioners needed to lobby for the issue. The fact that the Senior Center is no longer competing with the Teen Center should help bring it forth sooner. The Chairperson said that the need to work on a database of different groups was crucial to the success of the Teen Club and all programs. The Board needs to use the people it already has and get a letter out to the parents. 6 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA January 27,2000 Amy DeVries and Amanda Hollis left the meeting at 8:25 p.m. Mr. Waldman left the meeting at 8:55 p.m. and Ms. Laura Henley-Shephard arrived at the same time. Charles Fisher left the meeting at 9:15 p.m. IX. ADJOURNMENT Bob Borovy made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mary Morera and met with unanimous approval. There being no further business to come before the meeting the Chairperson properly adjourned the meeting at 9:25 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (three tapes) 7