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Minutes 06-22-00MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Shanna St. John, Chairperson Stephen, Kuehn, Alternate Hattie Miller Mary Morera Stephen Waldman, Vice Chair Lori Wilkinson ABSENT Bob Borovy Dorothy Davis Amanda Hollis, Student Amy DeVries, Student ALSO PRESENT Sherri Claude, Assistant to the Director of Recreation I. CALLTO ORDER Chairperson St. John called the meeting to order at 7:10 P.M. II. MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chairperson St. John called for a moment of silent prayer and requested that Ms. Morera lead the members in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. II1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Motion Ms. Wilkinson made a motion to accept the agenda as presented. Ms. Morera seconded the motion that carried unanimously. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 5~25~00 MEETING Motion Ms. Morera made a motion to accept the minutes of the May 25, presentedl Ms. Miller seconded the motion that carried unanimously. 2000 meeting as MEETING MINUTES' ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 III. ANNOUNCEMENTS/PRESENTATIONS/CORRESPONDENCE Chairperson St. John read a card that the Board had received from the recipient of The Bob Borovy Student Citizen Award and a savings bond for $500.00 at the Youth Volunteer Bank Awards Banquet. The card read as follows: I was so thrilled to receive the Student Citizen Award and the $500 savings bond. I am sorry I could not attend the dinner or the awards presentation as I was at work. Thank you again for recognizing me and offering this program. Sincerely, Jessica Aperavich Vice Chair Waldman also received a letter for the Board from Acting Director of Recreation, Wally Majors as follows: Dear Board Members, A short note to tell you how much my family and I enjoyed the Volunteer Recognition Banquet. My five year old daughter, Samantha, is still talking about doing the chicken dance. The number of volunteer hours contributed by our local youth was really remarkable. What an outstanding effort! You all deserve a tremendous amount of credit. Thank you for inviting me. Can't wait till next year. Sincerely, Wally Majors Chairperson St. John announced that the fireworks for Boynton Beach would be held at Boat Club Park on July 4, 2000. IV. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None V. BOARD ELECTIONS This topic was addressed later in the meeting. VI. OLD BUSINESS Before the old business opened, Ms. Miller stated that her grandson had been in the classroom where the teacher was shot and killed at Lake Worth Middle School recently. Everyone commiserated with her and offered their concern to her grandson and all the children who were affected by this tragic event. 2 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 *When~ A. Youth Volunteer Bank Awards Banquet Chairperson St. John thanked everyone who helped to make this event a major success. She expressed pride in the organization, the students and the parents. The food was good, the music was good, and the children had a great time. The disc jockey was discussed and it was agreed that he had done a very good job, playing a good mix of music and avoiding songs with questionable lyrics. However, this was the first year the disc jockey's services ($300) had not been donated and Chairperson St. John asked that the Board take this into consideration when searching for new sponsors for the next year. Chairperson St. John commented that sponsorships were down and that less was given out in savings bonds than previously. Chairperson St. John urged the Board to be active in soliciting new sponsors. After discussion of ways the event could be improved upon even further, it was decided to make more contacts during the year with the students to encourage them to keep track of their hours and to provide them with ideas of places they could go to get hours. A possible format was mentioned where there could be five mailings a year, two of which could possibly include United Way's booklet on youth volunteer opportunities, two postcards reminding the students to write down their hours, and one the month before the volunteer project.* After Chairperson St. John contacted United Way, the schedule for sending out the booklets and postcards was to be determined by the Board. It was felt that the mailing list needed to be "refreshed", eliminating those names of persons who had not submitted hours or the people who were soon to graduate. Vice Chair Waldman stated that the Board needed to put together a booklet explaining the program for the various school guidance counselors which could be given to them this September. He found that some guidance counselors were not informed about the program. B. BOB BOROVY STUDENT AWARD Vice Chair Waldman stated that all of the certificates were given out. An announcement was made of the individuals who had won the award at the City Commission meeting. Two of the students were able to be present. Since the Kiwanis Club of Boynton Beach had sponsored part of that, he invited each of those students to be his guest for lunch at the Kiwanis Club. Also there was a professional photographer who offered his services free of charge to take a photograph of the children to be used as desired. Information was given to the press about the awards and Chairperson St. John said that an attempt was being made to get some photographs published in the newspapers. Vice Chair Waldman said that a $1,000 savings bond was awarded that cost the Board $500.00, a $500 savings bond that cost the Board $250, and two $200 savings bonds that cost the Board $100 each. The plaque cost $72.00 and all was covered by the budget of the Advisory Board on Children & Youth. Mr. Larry Finkelstein gave an additional $100. Chairperson St. John commented that the food for the banquet had Chairperson St. John contacts United Way, the schedule..." 3 MEETING MINUTES ' ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 cost the Board $600.00 with the balance being offset from the Recreation Department's discretionary funds. Ms. Wilkinson stated that formal invitations were a good idea. There are people who should be invited formally who have not been to date and a list should be made of them before the next event. Ms. Morera mentioned that the person in charge of individual hours at St. Josephs School did not receive an invitation. Chairperson St. John asked if the Board felt the phone calls prior to the event confirming attendance had been productive. Vice Chair Waldman said there were some people he called who did not know anything about the event at all. It was thought that when the five-times a year cycle of contacting the students began, it would help. It was also thought that the parents needed to get a letter. C. STAND FOR CHILDREN Chairperson St. John said that she had asked Ms. Davis to handle this event and that nothing was done this month for Stand for Children. She said she would look for the proclamation done last year and she will ask that it be put in to the earliest possible City Commission meeting. Next yearl something should be done, even if small to bring the idea of Stand for Children into the public eye. D. TEEN CENTER Chairperson St. John mentioned that the workshop for this topic had been held and that the attendance had been Iow, with herself, Dorothy Davis, Mary Morera, and Wally Majors the only attendees. At the request of Commissioner Fisher they sent invitations to the heads of the Community Relations Board, Education Advisory Board, and the Recreation and Parks Board asking for representation at the workshop, but none attended. Chairperson St. John will ask for Commissioner Fisher's support to elicit the cooperation of the other Boards to attend the workshop and work with the Advisory Board on Children and Youth on this topic. Chairperson St. John believed that community input and input from other boards was vital for the success of the teen center project Vice Chair Waldman expressed interest in having a representative from organizations in surrounding towns who had participated in similar projects. Chairperson St. John said that she had a list of parents who signed up at the Youth Volunteer Banquet as being interested in working on the project. She also wanted all the religious organizations to become involved including the youth organizations at local churches. A layout of a proposed design for the teen center that Chairperson St. John had prepared was distributed among the members and discussed at length. The Youth Council reviewed the layout and agreed with most of it but wanted some other things such as individual music rooms for instruction, practicing and studying. They also wanted a two-story building. Chief Gage said that the people who worked there would need a break room. Having a separate entrance for parents was mentioned and a small meeting room for parents and/or students was suggested. In the large meeting room a stage could be set up with the ability preserved to use the room set up with chairs or 4 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 cleared for activities. The children wanted a room that would hold 300 people. The study rooms could be set up with televisions with couches, computers for research and internet access, video games, game tables, and hanging-out tables. The walls could have lots of information on them in the form of fliers of current programming and activities that were available for the young people. A small library was envisioned with reference books. For the outside there could be a small amphitheater where outdoor plays or concerts could be done, leading into garden paths. They wanted an area where they could be quiet and in the outdoors with trees and benches to relax. Also, in the back there could be a basketball court. A snack/lunchroom with a kitchen and vending machines was part of the design. The idea that this room could be used as the break room also was brought up although Chairperson St. John stated that the idea had been that the people who worked there needed a place they could go to get away and be quiet. The size and cost of the facility were unknowns at this point. On the backs of the design layouts that were distributed to the Board members, Chairperson St. John had given a list of potential partners. The idea was that instructors would not have to be hired, to bring in organizations who were already doing programming and who were already funded, to give them space to come in and deliver their programming. Included with the design overlay provided by Chairperson St. John was a list of potential funding sources, a draft mission statement, and a list of the proposed furniture, equipment, and supplies requirements. Wally Majors had provided a lot of information also that Chairperson St. John planned to include in the report to the Commission. She offered to provide copies to interested parties. Vice Chair Waldman mentioned that a counselor could come in two or three times a week and use the small meeting room for group counseling. The idea of having phones accessible to call the crisis hot lines was mentioned. He also suggested that the youth could form a radio and/or television station. Ms. Wilkinson spoke in favor of doing a survey to be sure the Teen Center reflected the true needs of its users and she offered to handle setting up the survey and interviewing the youth of the City. She proposed interviewing approximately 100 youth. Chairperson St. John said she believed Wally Majors was already doing a needs assessment? Sherri Claude responded that they were researching the feasibility and how much it would cost to do a formal needs assessment where you hire somebody, an impartial person, and the cost is from $16,000 to over $100,000. The needs assessment was for the entire Recreation Department, not just the Teen Center she stated. Chairperson St. John recommended that Ms. Wilkinson take some members of the Youth Council with her when she does the interviewing for the survey. Chairperson St. John.relayed her experiences from meeting with the Youth Council about the Teen Center. The youth feel that they already have drug counseling and other programs at school and only wanted recreational facilities at the Teen Center. Chairperson St. John mentioned that many youth do not have programs like this at school and secondly, when potential sponsors or funding sources are approached, they 5 MEETING MINUTES' J ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 will want to fund programs, programs that reinforce positive values, not recreational facilities. Ms. Miller stated that she was the Youth Director at her church, John Divine Baptist Church, and that they met every Tuesday at 6:00 P.M. Chairperson St. John said that Vice Chair Waldman had a list of religious organizations but that the Youth Groups and their contact information needed to be identified. Ms. Miller asked how many African Americans were on the Youth Council because she was told there were five. Ms. Miller had been informed by Ms. Sims that there were no African Americans, only one Haitian. Chairperson St. John said that there were about ten black persons on the Youth Council at this time, whether they were Haitian or African American was not known. Ms. Miller spoke about transportation for the teens from the north end to the Teen Center and the need for a shopper-hopper type bus. Chairperson St. John spoke of the various elements of the project: needs assessment, funding, community involvement, programs/partners, facilities design and obstacles. The need for security guards was brought up and discussed but the final consensus was that if rules were in place and membership were tied to say a $15.00 fee with a certain number of volunteer hours as a condition of membership, that security should nOt be a problem. You would have a membership I.D. with a picture. The rules would have to be set and a "three strikes and you're out" (like a suspension) kind of program would have to be instituted. If enough trained staff who were geared to handle children and situations were present, it should not be a problem. Chairperson St. John stated that the presence of a parent resource center was something that should mitigate security concerns. Ms. Wilkinson spoke of the great resource available in the person of Officer Rick Ross, who was so productive in the Police Department and so creative and committed in his work with youth in karate. She believed that Officer Ross might offer a class once or twice a month at the Center. Ms. Wilkinson also hoped to see some foreign language classes, sign language classes, and some kind of tutoring. She mentioned tapping into the resources that were already available. She mentioned the sign language classes because that was something she could do. Chairperson St. John added that there were the Police and Fire Explorers and that Motorola had an active policy of mentoring youth and also a foundation that provided funding. Chairperson St. John spoke of the property at the northeast corner of Old Boynton Road and Congress Avenue owned by Mr. Winchester as being a perfect location, its being halfway between the new high school and the middle school. There are already buses that drive right by it. It is next to the mall where a lot of youth hang out anyway. It is not next to a neighborhood where there would be complaints. All members wanted to spend sufficient time in planning the project and getting all the details in order before making a presentation to the Commission. Chairperson St. John asked Sherri Claude about the budget cycle. Ms. Claude did not believe that this would 6 MEETING MINUTES · ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 be a regularly budgeted item but would come from the Capital Improvement Pr~e~ funds. The Board discussed doing a preliminary progress report to City Commission in the form of a booklet and a speech at Public Audience in September. Action Items Chairperson St. John stated that Ms. Wilkinson would be working on the needs assessment. She said she could use the survey they had already done a year and a half ago, make more copies and get it out to the parents as well. For the record, Chairperson St. John stated that the Advisory Board on Children and Youth had done a Priority Survey a year and a half ago, asking for the residents to rate a list of concerns on a scale of 1 - 10 as follows: health care, free school child care, after school, teen programming, parenting classes, marketable skills or other and to tell them their ideas on how the City could address the concerns. Included on the survey were the following choices (check all that apply): mentoring, tutoring, teen center, parenting classes, health care classes, recreational activities, ESAU classes, Boynton Beach Children's Resource Guide or Other. Also: Do you follow local, state, or federal children's legislation? (Yes or (No). Would you be interested in receiving bulletins about current issues and who to contact to voice your concerns? They asked for name, address, phone and e-mail addresses. She stated that replies still came in from that survey from time to time. Chairperson St. John asked that someone volunteer to contact the local religious organizations for the name, address and phone numbers of the youth directors and invite them to the Board's next workshop. Chairperson St. John said that instead of sending letters just to the Chairs of those boards like the Community Relations Board, the Education Board and the Recreation and Parks Board, every member should receive a letter. The timing may have been bad. The letter may have come out after they had already had their meeting. Ms. Wilkinson said that the Community Relations Board had extended an offer of assistance. Ms. Claude offered to ask Wally Majors to bring the subject up at the upcoming meeting of the Recreation & Parks Board on June 26,2000. The members were asked to work on the community involvement angle, coming up with a list of the different community members that should be invited to the workshop such as: Ms. Sara Williams, Mr. Eddie Mitchell, Ms. Elizabeth Jenkins and the Girtman family, the Weavers, the Rahmings, former Commissioners, Shirley Jasciewicz, Gene Moore, Nellie Denahan, and many others. The list will be brought to the next meeting of this Board. There could be a workshop in August and a progress report to the Commission on September 5. At the July meeting the August workshop date will be set. Chairperson St. John said she had a pretty good list of potential funding sources. Chairperson St. John said she had the "Where to Turn" book which is put out every year by the Center for Information Crisis Services which had hundreds of programs. 7 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 Partners could be the service organizations like Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, Exchange Club, Children's Service Council and she had a list of those also. Chairperson St. John asked the members to bring anyone else they believed should be on the list to the next meeting. It was too early to consider facilities design until the needs assessment is done and the group has decided what it would like to have in the Teen Center. Under the heading of "obstacles", Chairperson St. John listed: funding, location, and security. E. BOWLING TOURNAMENT Vice Chair Waldman asked for dates in July for the tournament and after discussion, Sunday, July 23 at 2:00 P.M. was chosen. He offered to ask Mr. Borovy to work on the trophies. The fliers would need to be distributed at the bowling alley, the City buildings, the library, Hester Center and so forth. The usual format is doubles teams of adult/child for $20.00 a team and this was approved by all present. Ms. Morera offered to put together the flier and submit it to Sherri Claude. F. VOLUNTEER PROJECT Potential activities for the Volunteer Project were discussed. Chairperson St. John commented that the Rolling Green Park would be a good candidate for the project. Dates for the proposed project were discussed and the net of it was that the project would be deferred till next year due to time constraints and the number of current projects. January or February of 2001 were targeted for the project. A cleanup project for Seacrest was discussed. Chairperson St. John said that the board had said at the Youth Volunteer Banquet that they would be doing a volunteer project. She thought that when Sherri Claude made up the fliers for the bowling tournament a note could be included: "Because of Youth Expo we are moving the date of the Volunteer Project to February of 2001. Look forward to mailings on it." This could be on one side of a two-sided paper. Chairperson St. John said she would work on the Youth Expo flier, stating that the Post and Washington Mutual's Iogos would have to be obtained. Ms. Morera asked that the fliers be e-mailed to her so she could print them. G. YOUTH EXPO Chairperson St. John said that she had a letter about free informational tables that Vice Chair Waldman said he would need. Ms. Wilkinson said she had already gotten a commitment from East West Karate to perform. Chairperson St. John is in charge of entertainment. She stated that sponsorship was everyone's responsibility and went on to say that the event sponsors, Washington Mutual and the Palm Beach Post, were already lined up. She added a sponsorship level, Entertainment Sponsor. For contests they needed to put in a request to hold contests and put out the information in the 8 MEETING MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 schools. Vice Chair Waldman asked if they would be going to the Middle School of the Arts this time. A discussion followed as to what "our community" actually meant - did it mean Boynton Beach, or Boynton Beach and surrounding areas? The final consensus was that they would make a list that said something to this effect: "If you go to these schools you are eligible. If you are a student at any other school and a resident of the City of Boynton Beach, you are also eligible." The group set a date for the Youth Expo Workshop of Saturday, July 1 at 9:00 a.m. and Vice Chair Waldman offered to try to get the library for the program and notify the members of the final arrangements. The "In-Kind Prize Sponsors" packages will be mailed to the Board by Chairperson St. John. The members were asked to solicit sponsors for these prizes. H. BOARD APPOINTMENTS/GUEST SPEAKERS Board Appointments Mr. Bob Borovy has not filled out a Talent Bank form so his spot is open. The group discussed possibilities for the filling of the slot. Ms. Amanda Hollis needs to get her application in since she wants to continue. There is also an alternate adult opening and a student non-voting opening. Mr. Kuehn was advised of the attendance requirements and asked to adhere to them. Chairperson St. John stressed how important it was for student members to be a part of the board's discussions and decisions. Chairperson St. John brought in a list of which Commissioner was responsible for which appointments and asked the board to let her know of any applications that were coming in. She would then contact the Commissioner who had that appointment and let them know that the application had gone in for their position. Guest Speakers Chairperson St. John mentioned that at the January meeting different board members were assigned months that they were responsible to arrange for guest speakers. It was decided to send a reminder to the members about the guest speakers in the same mailing as the one notifying them of the July meeting. Chairperson St. John wanted the program to continue. VII. BOARD ELECTIONS (Out of Order on the Agenda) Chairperson St. John called for nominations for Board Chair. Vice Chair Waldman nominated Shanna St. John for Chairman of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth. Ms. Wilkinson seconded the nomination. A vote was taken and the Board voted 6-0 to 9 MEETING MINUTES' ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 reinstate Shanna St. John as the Board Chair for the coming term. Chairperson St. John thanked the board. Next, Chairperson St. John called for nominations for Vice Chair. Ms. Morera nominated Stephen Waldman as Vice Chair. Ms. Miller seconded the nomination. A vote was taken and the Board voted 5-0 (Mr. Waldman abstaining) to reinstate Stephen Waldman as Vice Chair for the coming term. VIII. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Wilkinson mentioned that the Community Relations Board was willing to help with Youth Expo in exchange for this Board's help with their STARS program in October. The STARS program is a job fair for youth geared towards students who need assistance with proper conduct during a job interview and things of this nature. The possibility of the Community Relations Board having a table with a display board, pictures, and sign-up sheets at Youth Expo was discussed. There were 25 students who participated in STARS program last year and three or four called back to say they got jobs based on information they learned in this program. Chairperson St. John asked Ms. Wilkinson to convey the board's gratitude for being asked again. Vice Chair Waldman mentioned that the Youth Council was going to be introduced at the July 18 City Commission meeting. He mentioned that a group of youth from Clipper Cove under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders had affiliated with the Youth Council and done wonderful things. They are also going to be introduced at the July 18 meeting. Vice Chair Waldman made a point-of saying that all of the youth from Clipper Cove were African-American with the exception of one Muslim. The Youth Council members are going to have a fast day in October for 30 hours to work with the Christian group, World Vision and to get sponsors and provide money for that group. The youth who are not Christian will give their money to another world-hunger charity. The intent is to help out hungry children in the world. Chairperson St. John said the mentors were meeting with the Executive Board of the Youth Council on Monday to discuss how things are going. Interested adults were invited to attend. Vice Chair Waldman set up a date for representatives from the Youth Council to meet with Wayne Segal to talk about making a video about how city government works for elementary and middle school children. Ms. Wilkinson said she had attended the multi-cultural festival the previous week and she wanted to stress the fact that the Advisory Board on Children and Youth should have been at the festival. They had a nice turnout of some 200 people. The kids were there; they had face painting and ethnic music demonstrations and booths. Chairperson St. John asked that a message be relayed to Dan DeCarlo that this board would like to be made aware of any events that include children. She also asked that he e-mail the Chairperson with updates on child-related issues from the Community Relations Board and/or make updates at the Advisory Board on Children and Youth meetings. He asked if he could send e-mail or give an update at the meetings? She also requested that 10 MEETING MINUTES · ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA June 22,2000 Youth Expo be put on the City calendar so there would be no conflicts in schedule. She further asked that the Youth Expo be mentioned in the next issue of the City newspaper. Chairperson St. John mentioned that t-shirts from the multi-cultural festival were available for $5.00, that they could be purchased from Dan DeCarlo, and that they were very nice. IX. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the members, the meeting was duly adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Recording Secretary (two tapes) 11