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Minutes 06-24-04MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN & YOUTH MEETING HELD IN THE COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Mary Morera, Vice Chair Evelyn Geathers Hattie Miller Betsy Veaner Willie Pearl Wilson Julie Claude, Regular Voting Student Laura Woozley, Regular Non-Voting Student Absent Steve Miller Rene~ Roberts I. Call to Order Chairman Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Prayer Ms. Betsy Veaner led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a moment of silent prayer. III. Approval of Minutes of May 27, 2004 Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Ms. Wilson and unanimously carried. IV. Approval of Agenda Motion Ms. Veaner moved to approve the agenda. Motion seconded by Ms. Wilson and unanimously cared. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children and Youth Boynton Beach, Florida June 24, 2004 V. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence Ms. Claude announced that the Fourth of July festivities would be held at Intracoastal Park on Sunday, July 4th. Music would begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by fireworks at 9:00 p.m. VI. Public Audience Persons present in the audience introduced themselves. VII. Old Business A. Teen Center Chairman Waldman reported that there have been two meetings regarding the teen center, which were chaired by Ms. Alyssa Ewing, who was also in the audience. At the last meeting it was determined to hold another meeting on September 9th from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Civic Center. Chairman Waldman will check into the availability of the Civic Center for that date and time. Commissioner Carl McKoy attended the first meeting and suggested that a youth council be established. Chairman Waldman noted that there had been a youth council previously in the City, but is no longer in existence. Vice Chair Morera is currently working on a flyer to invite teens to attend the meeting and to bring their ideas for a teen center with them. Chairman Waldman anticipates that if enough teens attend this meeting, they should be able to get members for a youth council. Chairman Waldman noted that minutes had been taken at the June 3, 2004 meeting that had been distributed to the members and asked if anyone had any questions regarding those minutes. Ms. Veaner inquired if the meeting on September 9th would be considered the kick-off meeting and Chairman Waldman stated that it was. Chairman Waldman noted that they would be going to the various schools to ask the Principals to recommend students who might be interested in forming a youth council. He would like the membership to be a cross-section of students. Ms. Veaner also inquired if a committee has been selected and if a name has been chosen. Vice Chair Morera said that there has been a suggestion that the committee be called the Teen Center Committee, which would be a committee specifically devoted for that purpose. Chairman Waldman recommended that they have a meeting before the scheduled September 9th meting to set up the guidelines for the meeting. He recommended inviting members of the public for their participation and input. Chairman Waldman thought that the youth council should be available to students at the Middle and High School levels. He recommended setting a date for this meeting at the July meeting. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children and Youth Boynton Beach, Florida June 24,2004 With regard to the flyer, members that have any ideas should contact Vice Chair Morera via E-mail. Vice Chair Morera will bring a draft of the flyer to review at the next meeting. Ms. Veaner felt that it would be beneficial if they had a cover letter to present to the Principals when they visit the schools explaining what the Board is trying to accomplish. Chairman Waldman also recommended that the flyer be distributed through the churches and other facilities that teens attend. Chairman Waldman thought it would be useful if he spoke to representatives from Delray Beach that formed a teen center to obtain some input for the next meeting. It was recommended that Chairman Waldman invite representatives from Delray Beach to attend the next meeting. He noted that previous Board members attended a meeting at the Delray Beach Teen Center. The Delray Beach Teen Center is very successful, but it also took them a long time to bring it to fruition. Members agreed that Chairman Waldman should contact the Delray Beach Teen Center to invite them to the next meeting. B. Volunteer Project/Adopt-A-Spot Program (August 7, November 6) The next clean up is scheduled for August 7th. Ms. Veaner said that she plans to inspect the area to see how it is doing. Chairman Waldman requested that Ms. Veaner inform the new members about the Adopt-A-Spot Program. Ms. Veaner explained that the Board has adopted an area near Rolling Green School Elementary School at 26th Street that they would be beautifying. In May, members and other volunteers cleaned, pruned and raked the spot. Ms. Veaner envisions having soil brought to the spot so that they could plant perennials. Chairman Waldman asked for ideas on getting more youth to participate in this endeavor. Ms. Claude reported that the youth in the volunteer bank received this information in the mail, and she was not certain how to get more youth to participate. Ms. Veaner asked about the surveys that were distributed at the awards dinner. Ms. Claude reported that 13 surveys were completed and turned in. The youth that responded did indicate that they were interested in participating and asked for more events to be scheduled for Sundays. Also, they would like to have more fun things to do. Ms. Claude also recommended that events be scheduled in advance, perhaps quarterly, so that people could make plans to participate. Ms. Veaner thought it would be a good idea to take the youth on an occasional field trip that would not be costly. Ms. Claude stated that there are many things that they could do that would be Iow cost. It was also suggested that the youth that participate in the volunteer programs could receive some kind of reward such as a trip to the I-Max Theater or some similar place. Vice Chair Morera recommended that if youth participate in at least two out of three projects, they would earn points to quality for a free trip. She felt that this might be a motivating factor in getting more participation. Chairman Waldman recommended that 3 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children and Youth Boynton Beach, Florida June 24,2004 this be discussed in depth at the next meeting and members could bring their ideas for reward projects. Ms. Veaner inquired if the Board would have any liability issues if they took children on trips and Ms. Claude stated that parents are required to sign a release and a permission slip. C. Youth Volunteer Bank Ms. Claude requested that the sponsors of the Youth Volunteer Bank be acknowledged in the minutes as follows: Platinum ($1,000 & above): Publix Supermarket Charities Gold ($100-$999): Benvenuto's (in-kind) TS Uniforms (in-kind) Bronze (up to $99): Boomers (in-kind) Butterfly World (in-kind) Lion Country Safari (in-kind) Museum of Discovery & Science (in-kind) Monkey Jungle (in-kind) Palm Beach Zoo (in-kind) The Palace (in-kind) Torchio's Finer Meats (in-kind) Willie Pearl Wilson (in-kind) Chairman Waldman acknowledged the generosity of the people that contributed to the banquet and inquired if an acknowledgement was sent to them. Ms. Claude responded that certificates were sent to them. D. Bob Borovy Award Chairman Waldman noted that the funds remaining for this award are down to $2,201. A history of the award was given for the benefit of the new members. The Bob Borovy Award is a $1,000 cash award presented to a graduating senior that resides within the City limits of Boynton Beach that has made the greatest contribution in terms of volunteering. The first prize is $1,000 and a second and third prize are $300 and $200, respectively. It was pointed out that unless funds were raised, they would not be able to continue the award. He noted that the proceeds from the bowling tournament go towards this award. Usually they net around $200. Chairman Waldman would like to have some other events to raise funds in order to keep the award going. Chairman Waldman inquired how many seniors applied for the award, and Ms. Claude reported approximately 13. Ms. Veaner noted that they were going to place a presentation board at the Youth Expo in order to raise funds for the Award. Chairman 4 Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children and Youth Boynton Beach, Florida June 24,2004 Waldman inquired if the American Legion contributed this year and Ms. Claude noted that Chairman Waldman was supposed to contact them. Chairman Waldman stated that he was not successful in contacting them, and he will try again. E. Bowling Tournament (July 25) Chairman Waldman presented the flyer for the Bowling Tournament. The cost is $20 per team and the Board receives approximately $10 to $11 that goes to the Bob Borovy Award. He already has the trophies. Ms. Claude reported that the event was advertised in the Sun Sentinel. Flyers were sent to previous participants and the event will be listed in the Funfare Magazine. To date, six people have registered. Ms. Claude inquired if there is a need to have a maximum number of participants. Chairman Waldman thought that there should be enough room for 50 to 60 people, but he will check with the people that operate the bowling alley. Vice Chair Morera suggested cutting back on the number of games, otherwise it takes too long for the younger children to bowl. Ms. Claude also inquired if AMF Lanes would be agreeable to receiving a check after the event based upon participation, rather than receiving the funds in advance. Chairman Waldman said that he would speak with them regarding payment. Vice Chair Morera inquired about refreshments. She noted that last year the donuts and cookies were successful. Previously, Dunkin Donuts only charged half price for the donuts and members felt that they should stay with the donuts and cookies. Vice Chair Morera will be in charge of arranging for the refreshments. F. Youth Expo (October 30) Ms. Claude reported that the Committee met yesterday and they are making preliminary plans. The hours of the Youth Expo will be from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The two topics will be art and creative writing. Staff is in the process of preparing a list of non-profit groups and possible entertainment. Letters will go out to them to determine their interest. If any member knows of any group that would like to participate, please let Ms. Claude know. Ms. Ewing stated that she would speak with her gymnastics' class to determine if they would like to participate. Also, Ms. Woozley said that she would check to see if her step team would also like to perform. Ms. Claude requested that they furnish her with a name, address and telephone number so that she can forward the necessary information to them. Ms. Veaner inquired if a theme had been selected and was informed that "Bridging the Gap - Youth to Seniors" was selected. Vice Chair Morera noted that they need to come up with some ideas on how to incorporate the seniors into the Youth Expo. Ms. Woozley thought that playing Bingo might be fun. Meeting Minutes Advisory Board on Children and Youth Boynton Beach, Florida June 24, 2004 G. Guest Speakers -None H. Other Ms. Miller inquired if irrigation would be added to the adopt-a-spot at Rolling Green. Ms. Veaner said that she spoke with Parks' staff, and they requested that the new plants be planted first and then they would put in drip irrigation. VIII. A. Motion New Business Elections (tabled from May 27) Ms. Veaner moved to remove the item from the table. Motion seconded by Ms. Wilson and unanimously carried. Ms. Claude nominated Steve Waldman as Chairman. Motion seconded by Ms. Woozley. There were no other nominations. Vote The vote to elect Steve Waldman as Chairman was unanimous. Motion Ms. Veaner nominated Mary Morera as Vice Chair. Motion seconded by Ms. Miller. There were no other nominations. Vote The vote to elect Mary Morera as Vice Chair was unanimous. IX. Future Meeting Dates: July 22, 2004 August 26, 2004 X. Adjournment There being no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (June 28, 2004)