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Minutes 05-23-96 MINUTES OF THE ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, MAY 23, 1996, AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Angela Girtman, Chairperson Beth Bailey, Public Information Officer Shanna St. John, Vice Chairperson Eric Davis Marie Lengert Hattie Miller, Alternate ABSENT Marvin Blitz David Helwig Betsy Wallshein, Alternate Chanelle Bowdry, Student Whitney Thompson, Student 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Girtman called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Denise Panton was sitting in the audience. 2. MOMENT OF SILENT PRAYER A moment of silent prayer was observed. 3. AGENDA APPROVAL No additions, corrections, or deletions were made to the agenda. Motion Vice Chairperson St. John moved to approve the agenda as presented. Ms. Lengert seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. 4. MINUTES APPROVAL No additions, deletions, or corrections were made to the minutes of the last meeting. Motion Vice Chairperson St. John moved to approve the minutes of the April 25, 1996 meeting as submitted. Ms. Lengert seconded the motion, which carried 3-0. Mr. Davis and Ms. Miller abstained from voting since they were not present at the last meeting. At this time, Chairperson Girtman asked the new members of the board to introduce themselves. Mr. Davis stated that he is a native Floridian. He grew up in Delray Beach and has been living in Boynton Beach since 1990. He is employed by the Palm Beach County School District as a Police Supervisor. He has been in law enforcement for 15 years, 10 years as Police Sergeant Detective for the City of Boca Raton. He coaches girls and boys in many sports in high school and would like to get involved with the youth in the City of Boynton Beach. Ms. Miller has been a resident of the City of Boynton Beach for about 40 years. She has worked as a youth counselor with the children in her church for about 11 years. At Commissioner Henderson Tillman's request, she joined this board, was glad to be here, and hopes she can be of some help. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Selection of Chair and Vice Chair Chairperson Girtman opened the floor for nominations. Mrs. Girtman nominated Shanna St. John as Chairperson of the board. No other nominations were made, and Mrs. St. John was unanimously elected Chairperson. Mrs. Girtman handed the gavel over to Chairperson St. John. Chairperson St. John opened the floor for nominations for Vice Chairperson of the board. Chairperson St. John nominated Mrs. Girtman as Vice Chairperson. No other nominations were made, and Mrs. Girtman was unanimously elected Vice Chairperson. 6. CORRESPONDENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENTS MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 23, 1996 A. Introductions of New Members This item was dispensed with earlier in the meeting. B. Announcement by Nellie Denahan, Chair, Education Advisory Board--Boynton Beach High School Rally at School Board Meeting on June 5, 1996 at 5:00 p.m., School Administration Building, Forest Hill Boulevard, West of Congress Avenue Mrs. Denahan encouraged the members of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth to attend the rally on June 5th. She stated that our elected officials will be given the opportunity to speak at 5:00 p.m. Mayor Taylor will be opening, the other commissioners will be speaking, and Commissioner Bradley will be summing it up. They will be speaking about the need of a high school in Boynton Beach and the need for Congress Middle School to be the feeder for Poinciana's math/science/technology magnet program. She encouraged everyone to car pool and to arrive promptly at 5:00 p.m. She explained that during his opening speech, Mayor Taylor will be asking individual groups, such as parents and city boards, to stand at certain times to show support for the City of Boynton Beach and to show the broad cross section of our community that supports the need for a high school. Ms. Bailey advised that the first 100 people who show up at the rally on June 5th will be given a T-shirt with a logo which states, "Together we make a school in Boynton Beach". Mrs. Denahan advised that this logo was created by Commissioner Jamie Titcomb. Mrs. Denahan stated that at the Visions 20/20 conference that was held May 2nd through May 4th, there was a suggestion that some of our boards should work together. She thought perhaps this board and the Education Advisory Board could work together. Duties of the Advisory Board on Children and Youth At this time, Chairperson St. John referred to Sections 2-116 through 2-122 of the Code of Ordinances which deals with the creation of this board and its duties. She advised that this board has not touched on many of its duties. She suggested that by the next board meeting, the members come up with some suggestions on how to get these 3 MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 23, 1996 duties accomplished. She asked Ms. Bailey how the board could approach the Commission to find out what direction they would like this board to take. Ms. Bailey said the board can call the commissioners individually or speak during the public audience portion of the City Commission meeting. The board could also write a letter asking that an item be placed on the agenda. Ms. Denahan suggested that each member of the board ask one of the commissioners to car pool with them to the June 5th rally so that they could talk during the ride there and back. Chairperson St. John asked the board members to contact her if they have any further suggestions. Vice Chairperson Girtman suggested reading the Visions 20/20 document, particularly the section that pertains to youth and the high school. She stated that this document does not really say what they want the boards to do. She suggested sending a letter to the Commissioners asking them for guidance based on the suggestions that they received at Visions 20/20. Ms. Lengert will ask Vice Mayor Jaskiewicz to attend one of this board's meeting. Funds for Extra Curricula Activities Vice Chairperson Girtman advised that there was some information in the Visions 20/20 document pertaining to donations or contributions to high schools in the way of scholarships for participating in athletic events, on teams, in clubs, or special classes such as photography. She advised that many of the classes that the School Board used to pay for are not funded by them anymore. There is no money in the school budget for any of the extra curricula activities anymore. You can barely get crayons and construction paper. She pointed out that it costs each student $400 to participate in the school band at Santaluces. It also costs the students to participate in the dance squad or photography class. Even the chorus has to raise their own money to travel to different contests. Everything that would seem exciting and fun for the children costs a lot of money. She felt we are going in the wrong direction when we try to come up with brilliant ideas to keep kids in school and at the same time cut out everything that is fun. She felt children need a reason to go to school other than learning. They meet friends there. They have clubs. They get interested in different things and it helps to bring 4 MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 23, 1996 them to school, make them want to stay in school, and keep their grades up so that they can continue to be in the band, go on trips, or play team sports. If you cut out all of these things and everything is priced out of a lot of children's price range, then you only have a certain group that is able to participate, and the other children have no school spirit. This is not the way to build spirit, especially if we are going to get a high school in Boynton Beach. We want a spirit of community. It is a shame that it costs so much money for kids to participate in things that are fun. She felt we were going the wrong way about getting kids to stay in school, and that we should be putting money back into the fun type of activities that will make children want to stay in school, and even stay after school. She did not know how we can promote this amongst the business leaders and the civic clubs. She suggested giving an award to the club that gives the most scholarships in a particular area for students who are in school taking extra curricula activities. She said it is a shame that the children cannot go to school and enjoy all that school has to provide to them, besides academics, to help them grow into a well-rounded person. It is a shame that everyone cannot afford to become involved. She stated that if the entire community gets behind the high school, hopefully, we will not have this kind of a problem and we would have a different kind of atmosphere. Ms. Lengert asked if the children have to buy their own instruments. Vice Chairperson Girtman answered affirmatively. Chairperson St. John asked if the $400 includes the cost of the instrument. Chairperson Girtman said the instrument is not included in the $400. The $400 is for buses, uniforms, cleaning of the uniforms, and additional instructors. Chairperson St. John asked how much it costs to be on the football team. Mr. Davis used to coach footfall at Atlantic High. He advised that the players have to pay for their own personal equipment, and they have fund raisers to get other equipment, such as jackets. The buses are funded by the athletic department. The booster clubs come up with the money to get nicer buses for the games that are further away. Football and basketball are funded by the booster clubs and fund raisers. The School District builds the stadiums, but does not provide the bleachers and scoreboards. Mr. Davis agreed that the children need this type of incentive. He has noticed an increase in violent and criminal acts and hostility in the middle schools when they took away sports. Since they have brought sports back into the middle schools, things have started to level off again. 5 MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 23, 1996 7. OLD BUSINESS A. Youth Expo Reports Ms. Bailey tentatively confirmed November 1 through November 3 for the Youth Expo at the Boynton Beach Mall. Chairperson St. John will get the applications for the contests to the School Board before they close down for the summer. For the benefit of the new members, Vice Chairperson Girtman explained that the first Youth Expo was held two years ago at the Boynton Beach Mall to celebrate children. She said there was so much negativity in the news about children, so the board wanted to highlight the children who were doing good things in the community, and the organizations that work with the children in the community. Several booths were set up throughout the mall to pass out literature. The D.A.R.E. Officers participated. The Congress Middle School Bands opened the expo by marching through the food court and up to the stage. On Saturday and Sunday various activities were held, including orchestras, karate demonstrations, dance, etc. There was an art and photo contest. Certificates were given to the participants at a City Commission meeting. Chairperson St. John said everything will be set up either on Friday night, November 1, after the mall closes, or on Saturday morning. There will be art, photo, drama, and creative writing contests. If there are enough people participating in drama, they will probably perform on Saturday. All the contests will revolve around the theme of this year's expo, which is multi-cultural awareness and acceptance--harmony. Storytellers, musical groups, and dancers will be invited to participate. She spoke to someone from the Girl Scouts who advised her that the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts do not really do things together, and suggested that the Girl Scouts open the expo and the Boy Scouts close the expo. Mr. Davis asked about the hours of the expo. Chairperson St. John advised that it depends on how much participation there is going to be. Last year, the expo ended around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. She advised that Mr. Blitz is working on the art contest and has secured prizes for that contest. Mr. Helwig is working on the photo contest, which is going to be a memorial to former Commissioner Sidney Rosen. Vice Chairperson Girtman is working on the creative writing contest, and Denise Panton is working on the drama contest. When school opens in August, information about the contests will be sent out to the schools. Vice Chairperson Girtman advised that the contests are open to all the schools that service Boynton Beach. 6 MINUTES ADVISORY BOARD ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA MAY 23, 1996 Mr. Davis asked if the contests have been broken down into age groups. Chairperson St. John answered affirmatively. She advised that the drama and photo contests are open to the middle and high school students. The creative writing and art contests are open to the elementary, middle and high school students. The students will be competing against their same grade level. 8. COMMITTEE REPORTS Chairperson St. John said she spoke to someone at Child Care Resource and Referral, and they are going to send her a report on the child care situation in Boynton Beach, including what is needed, where it is needed, what they are asking for, and what exists. She pointed out that this is one of the board's duties. She will have that information by the next meeting. 9. PUBLIC AUDIENCE None. 10. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:43 p.m. Eve Eubanks Recording Secretary (One Tape) 7