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Minutes 03-26-09 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON MARCH 26, 2009, AT 7:00 P.M. IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA Present: Stephen Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Mary Morera, Vice Chair Paulette Ford (arrived at 7:41 p.m.) Carol Lundquist Loretta Wilkinson Robert Chiste, Student Voting Member Lisa Pierre, Student Voting Member (arrived at 7:06 p.m.) Jose De la Torre, Alternate Absent: Hattie Miller Lesha Roundtree I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Reflection The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a moment of silent reflection for our men and women in the Armed Forces. The Board members introduced themselves to Mr. De la Torre, the new member, and provided background information. III. Approval of Minutes of February 26, 2009 The following correction was requested: ?Page 5, last paragraph, add "tennis carnival" after "regarding" in the first line, and remove "tents. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 Motion Mr. Chiste moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Wilkinson seconded the motion that passed unanimously. IV. Approval of Agenda Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to approve the agenda. Mr. Chiste seconded the motion that passed unanimously. V. Announcements Ms. Claude noted it would be necessary to submit a report to the City Manager's Office once the $1,000 received from Mayor Taylor's Community Investment Funds had been expended. Ms. Claude would send a letter to Mayor Taylor on behalf of the Board, thanking him for his generosity. VI. Public Audience Roger Rosena, Vice President of the Boynton Beach High School Student Government, reported the students recently held fundraisers in support of student Kaiya Castillo, who had been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. Students had washed cars at Firehouse Subs, sold paper "Links of Love" during lunchtime and held a dodge ball tournament. Ms. Castillo was in need of a double-lung transplant in order to survive, and Mr. Rosena requested the Board's assistance. To date, the Student Council had raised $2,500, half of their $5,000 goal. Brandi Girtman, Student Council Advisor at Boynton Beach High School, explained the cost of the transplant exceeded $500,000, and Ms. Castillo's family had been attempting to raise $35,000 to offset the expenses. She requested a donation of $500 from the Board. It was suggested a procedure be established to either table requests for donations or discuss the requests at the end of the meeting when the requestors were no longer present. An item could be placed on the April 23, 2009 agenda for discussion of this particular request as well as the manner in which other requests for donations should be handled. 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to wait to make a decision on this matter until the April meeting. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that passed 5-2 (Chair Waldman and Mr. Chiste dissenting). Ms. Girtman would be advised of the Board's decision. Lynne Durbin, Caregiving Youth Project (CYP), reported the project supported children who were both students and caregivers in the home. The Caregiving Youth Project offered programs in Europe and Australia, and the first of such programs was now available in the United States. The programs provided support services in school and out of school to caregiving students and their families. The middle schools in Palm Beach County served by the program were Congress, Boca, Lantana, Okeeheelee and Palm Springs. The purpose of Ms. Durbin's presence was to make the Board aware of the program and to note many of the caregiver students were in the Boynton Beach school system. The program had been publicized through the Palm Beach County School Board as well as public service announcements, and had been recently featured in the "Palm Beach Post" and the "New York Times." Most of the caregivers were middle-school students, but some were as young as six years of age. This year, 76 sixth-graders had been identified as caregivers to ill or elderly family members, and were in need of attention of their own. The Caregiving Youth Project sponsored fishing trips for the children and a reunion camp during the summer months. The project recently sponsored an event at Whole Foods Market and would be sponsoring an event at the Boynton Beach YMCA. The "Club Treasure" program provided a continuation of services for student caregivers leaving middle school and entering high school. Ms. Durbin advised the volunteer bank included people from the "Boca Respite Volunteers" and local colleges. None of the volunteers were under the age of 18. It was noted volunteers were needed to transport the students to school. While the program was still new, other organizations were beginning to come forward with assistance. Chair Waldman would provide a contact at United Way, and Ms. Wilkinson would provide contacts at the Kiwannis Clubs and Boynton Woman's Club. Allayshia Banks, student at Boynton Beach High School, announced the students would be staging a show entitled, "High School Musical," on April 16-18, 2009, at 7:00 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 p.m. in the School's theater. The cost for the tickets would be $5 for students with proper identification and $10 for adults. Ms. Banks would be portraying the role of "Taylor." She inquired whether the Board could assist with a contribution to offset the cost of the production. Additionally, if the Board wished to advertise in the playbill, space was available. Barbara Bennett, Community Representative for the High School, indicated the costs to advertise in the playbill were as follows: ?Quarter-page (business card) - $25 ?Half-page - $50 ?Full page - $100 The Board discussed taking out a half-page advertisement in the playbill. Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved the Board take out a half-page, black and white ad in Boynton Beach High School's playbill for their "High School Musical" production going on in April, congratulating the cast and providing information about the Board. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion. Ms. Wilkinson agreed to prepare the advertisement. It was suggested information from the Board's brochure be included, as well as a blurb indicating a position was open on the Board for a Regular Non-Voting Member. Ms. Wilkinson would send the advertisement to the School as soon as it was completed. Ms. Claude would request a check upon receipt of the completed minutes. It would be determined at the next meeting whether a contribution would also be made. Chair Waldman suggested Commissioner Ross be contacted regarding the use of WXEL's bulletin board. The motion passed unanimously. VII. New Business Chair Waldman noted the Children's Schoolhouse Museum and Learning Center was attempting to raise monies for their capital fund. Sponsorships of $100, $250, $500 and $750 were sought for their dinner-dance, which would provide program book recognition and on-site signage at the event. Contributions of $10 were sought from 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 individuals as well. Chair Waldman disclosed he was a member of the Schoolhouse Children's Museum Board. All individual donations and sponsorships were tax deductible. Chair Waldman inquired whether the Board would be willing to sponsor the dinner-dance. Motion Mr. Chiste moved to give $100 to receive recognition in the program book and on-site signage at the dinner. Ms. Wilkinson seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Chair Waldman noted the donation would come out of the contributions fund. While the fund had been entitled "Contributions to Schools," community outreach contributions were also included. Ms. Claude noted she would rename the fund. VII. Old Business A. Sister Cities Jeanne Heavilin, President of the Boynton Beach Sister Cities Committee, reported 141 entries had been received for the International Young Artists' Showcase. In order to accommodate the artwork, the venue had been changed from the Children's Schoolhouse Museum to the Boynton Beach Library. The artwork would be on exhibit from April 1-30, 2009. The winner of the competing middle and high schools would be sent to Washington, D.C. to participate in the international competition. The reception would be held Thursday, April 16, 2009, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Program Room at the Library, and Board members were invited. Volunteers were needed to hang the artwork on Tuesday, March 31, 2009, beginning at 5:00 p.m. Ms. Heavilin asked for the Board's assistance in preparing 141 certificates to be distributed at the reception. The certificates would include the names of the students who had participated in the competition and would be from Sister Cities and the Education and Youth Advisory Board. Ms. Morera, Ms. Wilkinson and Ms. Ford agreed to prepare 47 certificates each on their computers using "Lucinda Handwriting" black font, with the font size to be determined. Ms. Claude would provide the names of the participants. Ms. Heavilin requested the Board's assistance in serving refreshments at the reception. Chair Waldman and Ms. Wilkinson agreed to assist. Cookies, water and possibly soda would be served. Ms. Wilkinson agreed to provide the i€e water, and Chair Waldman would contact Costco to request a donation of the cookies. It was anticipated 75 to 100 people would be attending. 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 Ms. Heavlin noted Sister Cities was currently partnering with Children's Services Council. The agency would be displaying throughout their building the Young Artists' work accomplished over the past five years. B.Youth Volunteer Bank Ms. Claude noted a tentative date of May 15, 2009 had been set for the banquet. She was hesitant to confirm arrangements until the students had submitted their hours. Reminders had been sent. Ms. Morera had submitted her children's hours, and to date, no other hours had been received. The deadline for submission was April 1, 2009. It was suggested a backup plan, possibly a pizza party and a small gift certificate, be established in the event of minimal attendance. The backup plan could be finalized at the April 23, 2009 meeting. C.Bob Borovy Award Ms. Claude reported the deadline for submission of the applications was April 3, 2009. While only one application had been received to date, Ms. Claude anticipated many more applications would be received by the deadline. The event had been publicized in the Boynton Forum and on BBTV. A date and location for the presentation would be determined. Chair Waldman noted the Children's Schoolhouse Museum also provided scholarships, and last year's scholarship was awarded in the amount $1,200. D.Fundraising The Board agreed to discuss the request of Ms. Girtman on behalf of Kaiya Castillo. The donation, if approved, would come out of "Contributions to Schools," and a check would be made payable to Boynton Beach High School. It was believed $500 was too high. Other amounts suggested were $150 and $200. It was also mentioned the Student Government could request further assistance from the Board if they came close to their goal and funds were available. Additional contacts for funding sources would be provided as well. Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved the Board give $200 to the Kaiya Castillo Fund at Boynton Beach High School through their Student Government, and if they came close to achieving their goal, they could request additional funds, if the funds were available. Ms. Morera seconded the motion that passed unanimously. 6 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida March 26, 2009 Chair Waldman disclosed he had previously spoken to Ms. Girtman on this issue and suggested she attend the meeting. Ms. Claude would send a letter to Ms. Girtman advising her of the Board's decision. Ms. Morera advised the tennis carnival would not be held this year. If the tennis carnival were to be considered next year, the item should be presented to the Hunter's Run Board in the fall. Chair Waldman wished to approach the Galaxy Elementary School Principal regarding opportunities to partner with the Board. As such, he requested authorization to speak on the Board's behalf. The Board agreed. It was noted the Board had been partnering with Poinciana Elementary School through a reciprocal agreement. Chair Waldman considered Galaxy, as it was the oldest community school, and would be a good starting point at which to promote volunteerism. It would also enhance the Board's visibility in the community. Ms. Claude noted it was important that volunteer opportunities be provided to students, which was crucial to a successful Youth Volunteer Bank. IX. Future Meeting Dates: April 23, 2009 May 28, 2009 X. Adjournment Motion Mr. Chiste moved to adjourn. Ms. Morera seconded the motion that passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m. ~Dr ,QL l_- ~,Lf""'""'-')L. c-.- ------ <. ;j Stephanie D. Kahn Recording Secretary 040209 7