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Minutes 06-10-98 wkshp MINUTES OF THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM A, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1998 AT 8:30 P.M. PRESENT Ron Washam, Chairman Wilfred Hawkins, Assistant to the Maynie L. Boles City Manager Joy Currier Stephanie Mingo-McCoy Eric Schnetzer Belky Cruz Brenda Lee Williams ABSENT Blanche Girtman Sheilah White, Alternate I. ROLL CALL The Recording Secretary asked everyone present to state his or her name for the record. The meeting convened at 8:25 p.m. II. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS Stephen Waldman , Alternate Member of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth Lenora Waldman , former University employee in a tutoring and counseling program Charlie Fisher , Member of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth III. OPENING REMARKS Chairman Washam stated that Commissioner Denahan was in support of the job fair and would like to see it come to fruition. Charlie Fisher and Steve and Lenora Waldman were invited this evening for their input. Ms. Currier suggested that the group focus on middle school students. Ms. Mingo- McCoy stated that to be eligible to work a student must be 16. Ms. Mingo-McCoy further stated that the labor laws have changed regarding children under age 16 and the only places where these youth would be hired would be Publix or Winn-Dixie. Chairman Washam stated that most job fairs are geared to high tech jobs and people who go to these job fairs have business acumen and is not the type of person this Board wants to focus on. This job fair should be geared to youth and citizens of the community that don’t have opportunities to apply where the jobs are located for many reasons. Chairman Washam stated he had attended a job fair held a few years ago in WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 10, 1998 Riviera Beach that was for the benefit of youth and adults that our Workshop is hoping to attract, such as troubled youth, youth with disabilities, poorer people and people from all walks of life. This particular job fair was for the benefit of youth that don’t have opportunities to learn how to dress for an interview, nor do they know how to properly speak or how to fill out a job application correctly. Chairman Washam stated that opportunities should be offered that would assist these youth and adults with the transportation system available to get them to a job interview. A very important aspect to obtaining a job, is knowing how to get there. Ms. Mingo-McCoy agreed that there needs to be some type of assistance for these youth and their parents. Discussion ensued on the importance of appropriate dress for interviews. Secondly, knowing how to complete an application is a priority. Ms. Waldman stated that in her professional capacity of being in charge of a tutoring and counseling program at a university and in order to ensure that the students were in a “state of readiness” to apply for a job, the students must first be prepared. Therefore, the job fair should consist of at least two segments. Ms. Waldman stated that the first segment of the job fair should be devoted to training and the second portion would be on how to fill out a job application and how to interview for a job. Ms. Waldman stated that the Board should determine how to attract the youth and their parents into workshops and that they are offered at times that would be convenient for them. If this were done during school hours, the time for a job fair would have to be adjusted accordingly. Things to consider are ? Do you want to offer the training on the week-end ? Do you want to offer training in the evening ? How often should the training be held ? Do you want to offer resume writing ? How to fill out an application Ms. Waldman stated that these items could not be covered in one day. Ms. Williams suggested that the training sessions could be done over a three to six week period. After the training, the youth that complete all the workshops successfully will be guaranteed a job. The job fair would be held after all the training sessions. 2 WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 10, 1998 Mr. Waldman stated that a certificate upon completion of the training sessions could be handed out to the student. Mr. Hawkins reviewed what has been presented to this point, to put together a series of workshops and upon their completion, to hold a job fair. Do we want to have the employers who participate in the job fair stipulate – 1. guarantee employment, 2. guarantee an interview, or 3. only assure that they have openings? Mr. Hawkins stated it can be discouraging to a youth to go to an interview and in actuality there is no job opening. Ms. Waldman stated that it should be stressed to the youth that even if they don’t get this particular job, they have two things going for them: one is practice and secondly, they begin to network. Also, it is important to teach the youth that you don’t always get the first job applied for and how to accept rejection. Therefore, Mr. Hawkins suggested that acceptance of rejection should be included in the workshop also. Another aspect of the training would be to include the employers and their human resource departments to participate in the training. It would be beneficial to have the human resource departments attend the workshops and the training and offer practice interview sessions. Also, credibility must be established in order to reach these children. Therefore, having the potential employers participating in the job fair will lend credibility that these jobs actually exist. Chairman Washam also stated that it is important the employers are aware of the cultural backgrounds of the students. Mr. Waldman stated that not only should the youth be taught how to get the job, but also how to keep the job is just as important. Mr. Hawkins asked for suggestions for some workshop titles. 1. How to fill out an application 2. Dressing for success 3 WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 10, 1998 3. Interview techniques 4. Job retention 5. Resume writing Discussion continued regarding resume writing and it was decided that this should be offered as well, since a resume can be an introduction to an interview. Chairman Washam asked for opinions on how many sessions should be offered. Ms. Mingo-McCoy stated that there already exists in the Community the Chill Out Program that offers what has just been discussed and some of the youth should be referred to these services that exist in the Community. This would give this Board more opportunity to concentrate on the job fair. Ms. Williams stated she was unaware of what the Chill Out Program offers. Ms. Mingo- McCoy stated that the organization is a juvenile transition center and the Chill Out Program is an acronym for “Changing Hostility into Literacy, Logic, Optimism, and Universal Tranquility, which is a prevention program for at risk youth in the Boynton Beach community. Educational services, social skills services and philanthropic services are offered. Chill Out is trying to build skills for the youth in the community so that they can become productive citizens. Ms. Mingo –McCoy stated that the program is located at the Hester Community Center (732-5545). Mr. Schnetzer inquired how the Board could determine on locating youth and adults who would be interested in the training and the job fair. Some suggestions were advertising, working with local youth groups, churches, and schools, were good places to start. Discussion continued on where to look for assistance with the job fair. Schools and various businesses were mentioned, chambers of commerce, vocational and technical schools, as well. Mr. Hawkins stated that the schools should be the first place to look for students and to contact the vocational and technical teachers at the high schools, ninth grades and middle schools. The age group that will be targeted will be sixteen and up, so it must be determined how to reach the parents as well. 4 WORKSHOP MEETING MINUTES COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA JUNE 10, 1998 Next under discussion was when to schedule the training and the job fair. Chairman Washam stated that it was important to have firm dates set in order that the commitments can be obtained. The dates and places to hold the training and the job fair were discussed. Ms. Waldman stated that if the targeted group is hypothetically speaking around 1,500 people, you have to have feed back as to how many people will actually be attending. This is important for employers who will be making presentations to know what to expect. It was suggested that a sign up program should be established in advance of the training dates. Chairman Washam stated that the training, since this is the first attempt at a job fair, should be offered twice in two different locations. And, the job fair can be held after these two sessions. Ms. Williams suggested that the meeting conclude at this point, since it was getting late, and that another date be set to finalize the plans. Chairman Washam stated that Commissioner Denahan wanted to have some business personnel who are experienced along these lines attend the next Board meeting to offer assistance, as they were not available this evening. It was determined that the workshop would reconvene on Wednesday, June 24, 1998 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room A. The Workshop adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _____________________________ Barbara M. Madden Recording Secretary (one tape) 5