Loading...
Minutes 10-23-08 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008, AT 7:00 P.M. IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Stephen Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Mary Morera, Vice Chair Pamela Camel Carol Lundquist Loretta Wilkinson Robert Chiste, Student Regular Voting Member ABSENT: Hattie Miller Lesha Roundtree Roberta Fasano, Alternate Lisa Pierre, Student Regular Voting Member Luis Rodriguez, Student Regular Non-Voting Member I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Reflection Ms. Lundquist led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a moment of silent reflection for our troops in harms way. III. Approval of Minutes of September 25, 2008 Motion Mr. Chiste moved approval of the minutes. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Approval of Agenda Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Chiste seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 V. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence Ms. Claude announced she sent an email to the members last month regarding a National League of Cities newsletter. There is an upcoming audio conference on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 12:30 p.m., entitled “The State of City Leadership for Children, Youth and Families, Trends and Innovations at the Local Level.” Ms. Claude requested members interested in the audio conference to let her know and they would use the Recreation and Parks Conference Room. Chair Waldman inquired if the high school would be interested in the information. Ms. Claude responded the conference had some information they may be interested in, but she mentioned it for the benefit of the members. Chair Waldman explained he was attending the Youth Delegate Conference in Orlando, on November 11, 2008 with the students and he would provide a report on the conference. Ms. Pierre, if she attended the conference, would also be asked to prepare a report. Ms. Claude had forwarded an email regarding the New America Foundation. There was an essay contest open to all high school seniors. The winner would receive $2,500 and the top 25 essays would be chosen as semi-finalists and receive special recognition. She printed the information and included the website for the members. She suggested the contest might be something to forward to Boynton Beach Community High School. Chair Waldman advised he had forwarded the information to them. The due date for the contest was February 20, 2008. Ms. Claude distributed the Poinciana Newsletter to the members, which contained information about the Youth Volunteer Bank. Ms. Claude had prepared 600 copies of the application and brochures. Chair Waldman folded the brochures and took them to the school this week. He thanked Ms. Claude for her work on the brochure and hoped there would be some response. He noted Mr. Slack, the Principal of Poinciana Elementary School was great. Ms. Claude explained she had already received a telephone call from Poinciana. Chair Waldman advised he would go to Citrus Cove Elementary School and visit with Judith Asbury, Principal of the school, about the program. VI. Public Audience Chair Waldman explained the Board would skip this item in order to wait for Keith Oswald, Principal of Boynton Beach Community High School, to arrive. He advised he received information that several of the Board members’ terms of service would expire in December. He hoped the members would renew their applications. Ms. Claude advised for the record that she had received an email from Ms. Fasano informing her she was out of town and could not attend the meeting. 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 VII. New Business A. Green Market Chair Waldman advised the Green Market begins November 1, 2008 near the Children’s Schoolhouse Museum. He made a phone call to Sister Lorraine and advised the Board was interested in selling cookies but they did not want to interfere if another bakery was selling because the Board received donations from Panera Bread. Chair Waldman had not yet received a response. He explained he would try to contact the st Green Market again, but he thought selling on November 1 would be too soon to try to sell. Ms. Wilkinson inquired if the Green Market was mostly produce or had other items such as meals. Chair Waldman responded there were other items being sold including flowers and jewelry. Ms. Wilkinson advised a chicken establishment named CR Chicks donates unused chicken parts to food kitchens and to organizations to sell. Although the Board opted not to pursue that option, Ms. Wilkinson noted for the purpose of any other fundraisers for the Board or any other organization, this could be an item to consider. Chair Waldman inquired if the Board wanted to sell cookies, and if so, they should check with Panera Bread. Ms. Wilkinson agreed to contact them but could not commit to volunteering every Saturday. The hours were approximately 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Chair Waldman explained the last time he sold Panera Bread goods, there was a mix up and he was provided with a cake and other items which he sold. In addition, since the function was operated by the Community Caring Center, the Board did not know if tables would be provided. Chair Waldman inquired if there were any objections to selling cookies at the Green Market. Ms. Lundquist suggested taking turns going to the first few markets and to see how it was set up. Ms. Wilkinson cautioned; however, if they waited too long, it may be difficult to establish themselves as a vendor. Chair Waldman thought the Board should observe the first week and then perhaps when selling, to have a sign about the donations. Ms. Camel had scheduling conflicts for the next three Saturdays but she advised if she had more information about the operating hours of the market she could come for the later part. Mr. Chiste agreed to try it and see how it went. Ms. Morera agreed to help when she could. Ms. Wilkinson also noted this could be a good opportunity to get the high school youth volunteers involved. The entire Board did not need to be present at the Green Market and could take turns attending, especially if some of the volunteers would be available on the Saturday. The members agreed every Saturday was a big commitment. Chair Waldman would check further into the market to see if the Board would be competing with another vendor. Whatever funds were raised would go to the youth, no matter if it was $50. 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 VIII. Old Business A. League of Cities Youth Conference Report There was no report given. B. Proposal to Reward Academic Achievement at Boynton Beach High School Chair Waldman advised the Social Studies Department was working on the initiative and it was his understanding the effort was being organized internally. It was noted Mr. Oswald was in favor of the program. C. Youth Volunteer Bank Chair Waldman advised the members had volunteered to visit different schools. Ms. Claude would e-mail the list of members and schools to introduce and promote the program. She read from the August meeting minutes which indicated the following: Ms. Wilkinson would go to Forest Park and Freedom Shores. ? Chair Waldman would go to Poinciana, Citrus Cove and Boynton Beach ? Community High School. Mr. Chiste would go to St. Mark. ? Ms. Morera would go to Crosspointe and Odyssey. ? Ms. Roundtree would go to Rolling Green. ? Ms. Pierre would go to Galaxy. ? Christa McAuliffe, Crystal Lakes, and Lake Worth Christian schools were ? remaining. Ms. Claude acknowledged the schools on the list were not all the schools in the area, but they were the ones discussed. Ms. Camel agreed to go to Christa McAuliffe. ? Carol Lundquist agreed to go to Crystal Lakes and Lake Worth Christian School ? Chair Waldman and Ms. Claude had brochures that needed to be folded. Ms. Claude explained the brochures looked much better in color, but she could not print hundreds more of them. She had four packs of 25 brochures and she suggested the members could take a few colored brochures to each school. If the school published a newsletter, they could include the information in it, which would be the best and most economical way to get the information to the students. Ms. Claude had already printed a total of 1,200 brochures and she suggested including a phone number, email address or the City’s website with the information so individuals could contact the Board. A form or other information could then be sent to the 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 individual. Chair Waldman suggested taking five or ten application forms to the schools and letting the school make copies of them as needed. Chair Waldman explained when he spoke to Mr. Slack at Poinciana, he indicated the hours could be modified and it was his feeling that 45 minutes could be counted as an hour, especially with young children. The idea was to push the idea of volunteering. It could be any kind of volunteer work - helping the school, the teacher, a classmate; all those types of assistance could count as volunteerism. Chair Waldman also thought anyone who signed up for the program should receive a certificate, and then the members could determine what else they would give as awards. D. Fundraising Chair Waldman apologized to the Board and indicated he previously agreed to go to the Kohl’s and Target Department Stores and the Community Foundation database to see if grants were available. He announced his wife threw him a surprise party for his th upcoming 70 Birthday and his family came in from out of town. Subsequently, he was unable to make those contacts. On a different note, Chair Waldman and the members congratulated Ms. Camel on receiving her Doctoral Degree. Ms. Camel announced she received the degree on August 31, 2008. Chair Waldman requested waiting another 10 minutes for Mr. Oswald to arrive and went off record. During that time they discussed personal accomplishments not related to the meeting. Ms. Wilkinson went on record as a Public Service Announcement urging all residents to vote in the upcoming election. She announced early voting was ongoing and the hours were 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Boynton Beach Library. One reason why there were lines was it took time to look up the names and voting information of the voters on the computer. Ms. Camel left the meeting at 7:41 p.m. IX. Public Audience Keith Oswald , Principal of Boynton Beach Community High School arrived and apologized for being tardy. He had attended the last home volleyball game and the Dimensional Harmony School Choir had their opening concert earlier in the evening. He thanked the Board for the invitation to attend the meeting. He explained he began working at Boynton Beach Community High School over the summer and he had two goals for the school. One was to have each student focus on their road to graduation. He advised there were a number of students struggling academically and credit wise. 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 The second goal was to move the school letter grade to a “B”, which he thought was critical to building confidence in the school, the community and the students. To assist with the credit portion of the problem at the school, a credit lab was instituted. The lab was available all day, and there were 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. sessions. Many students were interested in the lab, which allowed students who failed a class to take the class again online. By doing so, the student could recover the class which would raise their grade point average and put them back on track for graduation. It would also help raise the graduation rate. He explained this assisted the student to focus on how the classes fit into graduation. The school diagnostics issued by the School District were the highest they have ever been, and he hoped, if this correlated to the FCAT scores, it would equate to a school grade of “C”. Mr. Oswald advised when it came to student achievement, the strength of the teachers played an important part, and the other part of the equation was each student. The school pride, clubs and sports were crucial. There were coaches in nearly every sport, and more students turned out for sports programs than ever before. He advised varsity football was doing quite well this year and was well attended. There were record turn- outs for other sports as well. A junior varsity coach for girl’s soccer was needed because there was such a big response to the activity. In essence the school pride was returning and the pep rallies were well attended. One of the larger challenges was finances. Another part of the equation was a large number of students were struggling and the economy was declining. He explained the coaches were responsible for fundraising to pay for security and uniforms, which were unfunded. This was a challenge they faced to keep the programs strong and something the Board could support and advise the community. The programs would help keep the students in the school longer and served to promote student involvement. The key to those activities was the support of mentors and volunteers, who may play a sport that could help coach the student. Mr. Oswald was a principal in Lake Worth for five years and was an assistant principal in various schools throughout the County. He left the district for a few years and worked in the Bronx as an Instructional Superintendent, working with middle and elementary schools on the instructional portion of the curriculum. Last year, he was with the restructuring initiative in the district to help students improve academically. Mr. Oswald had wanted to come to Boynton Beach Community High School, and has family in the local area. He believed the school was struggling. The reading program changed a lot and included a Reader’s Workshop for the teachers. They ordered hundreds of books and they organized different classroom libraries around different genres. They shifted the philosophy and the student could select the 6 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 genre they were interested in. He explained this sparked a great deal of interest in the students. Students who used to get in trouble were no longer getting into trouble, and they see the activity catching on. Mr. Oswald advised they would be interested in receiving book donations of any type of adolescent books or magazines. He explained the school would review the donations to determine if they were appropriate for the library. There were about 600 to 700 books in each of the reading libraries, but he wanted to expand the libraries into the English classes. Research showed access and proximity to books had a clear relationship to whether students would read or not. Although there was a media center and a library available, access to it was difficult at times. Reading has been key and was what would help them with the FCAT scores. He advised at the appropriate time they would begin preparations for the FCAT test. Discipline at the school had changed and campus security experienced a big shift in operations. Mr. Oswald reported the feedback from the students was they felt safe at school. There was structure. The school was taking a hard-line on the dress code, which was stricter than the district standards, and a hard-line with their electronics program. Additionally, the students were handling the changes well. Chair Waldman announced a friend of his had some books to donate and inquired to whom they should be delivered. Mr. Oswald would take the books and disburse them to the reading coaches. Ms. Wilkinson also had three years of Science Telescope magazine she would donate. Chair Waldman had some magazines as well. The Embry Riddle Aeronautical program was doing well. Students left for a three-day trip to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. The program had 70 to 80 students and was growing. The key to foster the program was the school grade. The Showcase of Schools was recently held and there was a great deal of interest in the school. The school was anticipated to grow by leaps and bounds. There was an advisory meeting with NASA and they received a lot of financial support from Embry Riddle Alumni. The school choir, Dimensional Harmony, was outstanding. The students would be presenting “High School Musical” this year and a drama teacher was added. Theater was popular, the dance program was growing, and they have an all boys dance class. There would be a grand opening for the new $9 million Black Box Theater. There was a recording theater, the theater itself and two dance rooms. The students made a video to recruit students for the program. Next year the school would be adding an Informational Technology program. The school has academies in Culinary, Construction, Teacher Education and Pre-K programs. They were trying to rebuild the programs in-house and provide the students 7 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 with the corresponding industry certifications if students followed through on the programs. The emphasis was keeping the students on track with the programs. Chair Waldman advised he sits on the School District Advisory Boundary Committee and was hearing good things about Mr. Oswald and the school. Chair Waldman echoed those sentiments and commented if the focus is on the education of the student, the grade would come. Ms. Morera expressed the public perception of the school needed to be improved so parents would be comfortable sending their children there. Ms. Lundquist inquired what fundraising activities were undertaken. Mr. Oswald responded they sold M&M’s, and discount community books, but the efforts were geared more towards the basic candy sales. The officials at the ball games and security people at events have to be paid. Ms. Wilkinson advised at her school, they have to pay for lighting for after school or Saturday activities. Mr. Oswald advised, over the summer, Coach Swain was actively soliciting business advertisements for the events. Chair Waldman inquired if he had contacted the President of the Chamber of Commerce, and advised he may be able to direct him to individuals who could assist him. Dimensional Harmony was going to New York and they were able to obtain funds from Board of County Commissioners Chair, Addie Greene. Donald Trump also provided financial support. Chair Waldman explained last year the Board donated $1,000 for students to attend the Presidential Classrooms. Mr. Oswald explained that activity was still in place and there were many things the students wanted to do. The Board wanted to help financially. Mr. Oswald responded they had a huge turnout for Boys Basketball, and they would have three teams. They have zero dollars for that. Lamar Thomas, who used to play with the National Football League was assisting with football and would support that piece. He was also helping with contacting individuals. The team did not have uniforms. They would have a baseball team, but there were no funds for that. Ms. Wilkinson advised she was unaware Lamar Thomas was at the high school until she heard about it on the radio. Mr. Thomas calls radio station 105.9 regularly on the morning show. She suggested he make an appeal over the radio. Mr. Oswald responded the school and Mr. Lamar wanted his involvement to be about making a difference in the lives of the students. 8 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 The Board inquired if they needed funds for books. Mr. Oswald responded they needed non-fiction books and young men’s literature and sports type materials. Chair Waldman had spoken with the Library Director who was to contact the school. Chair Waldman was aware they had books in storage. He advised if they needed a classroom set of books they would help. Mr. Oswald responded any assistance would help. Chair Waldman inquired if $150 or $200 was sufficient. Mr. Oswald responded they could purchase National Geographic, non-fiction high interest materials for the students. The Board discussed if the books were more important than the sports theme. Mr. Oswald explained he was writing grants for the academic pieces and he could leverage the funds. He advised it was more difficult to obtain grants for sports activities and thought the uniforms were needed. Mr. Oswald did not know how much it would cost to outfit an entire team and would find out the cost of various items. He was invited back to the December meeting so the Board could make a concrete motion. The next meeting was December 4, 2008. Chair Waldman advised he had a scheduling conflict. Ms. Wilkinson offered a motion, however the item would be heard under New Business on the December 4, 2008 agenda. If Mr. Oswald could not attend, it was requested a representative be present. Chair Waldman explained there was supposed to be a Booster Club. Mayor Taylor Glenn Jergensen, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Gene Moore were involved in the effort. Chair Waldman offered to provide Mr. Oswald the contact information for Mr. Jergensen so an inquiry could be made. He also explained they have a volunteer bank, and if Boynton Beach Community High School could push the program and get an article in the newspaper, it would help. Ms. Morera pointed out to Mr. Oswald there was the Green Market and the members had discussed attending every Saturday. If the Board could find a high school that had a different sports team that wanted to raise its visibility at the market and was willing to sell whatever they could get donated, then the proceeds of the sale from that Green Market could go towards that team. The Green Market starts November 1, 2008. The Board would not sell the first weekend but would the next Saturday. Ms. Morera noted they would love to recruit volunteers from the volunteer bank, because the members could not attend the market every Saturday. She indicated if the students were motivated, it could be an opportunity to raise money. Mr. Oswald responded they had some clubs that could participate. Ms. Lundquist also indicated she reads short articles about the high school in the newspaper and encouraged the school to continue to issue announcements about everything positive that occurs in the school. Mr. Oswald reported the Sun Sentinel had contacted him. Another suggestion was to have a Students Column in the newspaper. Mr. Oswald announced they did receive coverage in the paper regarding one of their 9 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 23, 2008 sporting events, and some of the students trying to be recruited to other schools that refused and wanted to stay with Boynton Beach Community High School. Chair Waldman suggested contacting Commissioner Ross, the Education Liaison for the Commission who works for WXEL radio station, to raise awareness for the school and to run ideas by her. Chair Waldman announced he was working on a grant for a project involving students who would interview World War II Veterans. The project, which was a joint effort between Boynton Beach Community High School and the Children's Schoolhouse Museum could provide publicity and the project could be expanded to include other wars and veterans. A video tape of the project would also be made. The members applauded Mr. Oswald's efforts. Future Meeting Dates: December 4, 2008 January 22, 2009 x. Adjournment There was consensus to adjourn. The meeting adjourned at 8: 19 p.m. 01JtiAUu)\L CiuUlC~ Catherine Cherry 6 Recording Secretary 10