Loading...
Minutes 09-23-10 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 23,2010 AT 7:00 P.M. CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Mary Morera, Vice Chair Myra Jones Carol Lundquist Hattie Miller Lori Wilkinson (arrived 7:05 p.rn.) Emily Schweitzer, Student Regular Voting Member ABSENT: Robert Chiste, Student Regular Voting Member Jose De la Torre, III, Alternate Paulette Ford. Alternate Tiffany North. Alternate 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 members recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, followed by a moment of silent reflection. III. Approval of Minutes of July 22, 2010 Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the minutes. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Approval of Agenda Chair Waldman added discussion from the League of Cities to Old Business, Item E. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 23, 2010 Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the agenda as amended. Ms. Miller seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. Announcements/P resentations/Correspondence Chair Waldman sent a letter to Dr. Evan Glazer, principal of Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria Virginia. The school was ranked the top high school in the United States for the last three years. Since the high school was a science and math magnet school, Chair Waldman thought it was a worthy idea to connect Poinciana Elementary, which was also a science and math magnet school, to some of the teachers and students at the high school. The letter was an inquiry about whether they would be interested in a video skype or emailing exchange. Chair Waldman sent a second letter to Dr. Glazer informing him about the Odyssey of the Mind program and how the Poinciana students ranked third in the World Competition, but he has not had a response to either letter. Chair Waldman planned to send a third letter. The program would be a good program and the idea was to have kids connect with kids. Ms. Claude announced the Board received a $25 donation from Bank Atlantic but it was hoped a larger donation would be received. Chair Waldman had been in contact with the bank manager who expressed he had limited funds and he suggested the Director of the Bank Atlantic Foundation be contacted. Chair Waldman composed a letter and spoke with Debbie Majors, the Grants Coordinator, who made some suggestions to it. Chair Waldman read the draft letter to the Board, which introduced the Board, outlined its function and previous donation history. The letter explained funds were no longer available from the City Commission and requested the Foundation consider helping the Board with a recurring gift. The funds would be recognized as coming from the bank and advertised as such. Chair Waldman requested the Board's permission to send the letter. There were no objections from the members to send the letter. Public Audience None. VI. New Business A. November/December meeting dates Ms. Claude explained this year, the November meeting falls on Thanksgiving and the December meeting falls on the Christmas holiday. Last year, the Board combined the two meetings and met the first week in December. She suggested if the Board wished, the Board could meet on December 2. The members were amenable to the new date. It was noted Ms. Wilkinson may have a scheduling conflict due to her daughter performing at the Kravis Center. 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 23, 2010 Chair Waldman discussed the Youth Volunteer Bank. He explained he gave Ann Malock and the student council information about the program and made a presentation. Ms. Malock explained it was difficult to get the students motivated, but she agreed to forward the information to the Guidance Department and other individuals. He also left information with Boynton Beach Charter School, Touissant L'Overture, Santaluces High School and Poinciana Elementary School. He hoped his efforts would recruit volunteers. He mentioned the Borovy Award to the staff at Santaluces High School and explained it was available to Boynton Beach students attending the school. Ms. Wilkinson also mentioned the program to the Assistant Principal at Freedom Shores. She commented she was told the beginning of the year was not a good time to discuss the program because the school was very busy and she recommended Ms. Wilkinson come back in a month. Vice Chair Morera had similar experiences; however, there was always something ongoing. It never seemed to be a good time. Chair Waldman noted Dr. Johnson has been helpful in the past and it may be beneficial to seek his assistance. Ms. Claude suggested a better option may be to go directly to the PT A because they hold general meetings and the members could talk directly with the parents. It was noted Poinciana's PT A meeting was next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. and Chair Waldman volunteered to attend. Ms. Claude received a few responses from the person in charge of the Cub Scouts at Poinciana regarding the volunteer program and announced she had brochures for the members to use in soliciting interest in the program. On a different matter, Chair Waldman indicated he was called to assist Boynton Beach High School with a Homecoming Parade. Chair Waldman put them in touch with Wally Majors, Recreation and Parks Director, who would help Ms. Malock with the project. It was thought the project would not likely come to fruition this year but it could be viable for next year. Mr. Majors would visit the high school with staff to explain the process and help the students with the project. VII. Old Business A. Greater Boynton Beach Foundation Update Ms. Wilkinson explained the Foundation was up and running. The effort started a year and a half ago as a steering committee interested in building the Barrier Free Park and it evolved into the Greater Boynton Beach Foundation. Their goal was to raise money for items of interest to the area pertaining to recreation, education and culture. The Foundation made great strides over the last year and a half and had a great consultant, Charlotte Pelton. The Foundation incorporated and was starting to fundraise. About $550,000 was needed to complete the first phase of the park, and the Foundation hoped to break ground in February or March. 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 23, 2010 There were seven people on the Board and three ex officio members from the Cobra community in West Boynton, the Chamber of Commerce and the City. Eventually the Foundation would be apolitical and no one from the City would be on it. There were several sub-committees formed and Ms. Wilkinson invited the members to become involved with activities, such as marketing, fundraising or "friend-raising". The Barrier Free Park was a generic term for a "Boundless Playground," which is a copyrighted/trademarked term meaning people of all ages, physical abilities and disabilities could enjoy the park equally. Becoming involved with the park was a great opportunity for volunteers and youth. B. Bowling Tournament Vice Chair Morera approached Boynton Bowling Lanes to hold the event and reported there was a new manager and new policies since they last held the event. If the attendees played two games per person, the manager would wave the shoe charge and take care of the recordkeeping and scorekeeping for $5 per person. The Board needed to notify them of the date, time and how many lanes would be needed. The manager suggested holding the event on a Sunday afternoon. Snacks could not be brought in, but the manager agreed to try to bring in food specials which the Board could pre- purchase and offer to the participants for free. The Board would charge $20 per team and receive half of the proceeds back. Vice Chair Morera also needed to go to Palm Beach Strike Zone f/k/a Don Carters to see if they would offer a better deal. After a brief discussion, there was agreement the members preferred keeping the event in Boynton Beach to support the local businesses. The event was a social event for all ages. The Board could advertise it and specify the monies raised would go to a specific project. Since it was played by doubles, it could be a father/daughter or other event. Vice Chair Morera explained Maureen Devlin, the General Manager indicated they continuously book events, so as soon as they could notify her with a date, the better. Ms. Jones suggested trying to hold the event as close as possible to spring break because many people were looking for activities. However, it was also noted many people go away for spring break. After discussion, there was agreement to try for March 6, 2011 from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Once Vice Chair Morera confirmed the date, she would contact Ms. Claude so she could advertise the event in Funfare Magazine. There was agreement to keep the fee a flat fee. Pre-registration would be required and handled in the same manner as any other registration for a parks function. Ms. Jones thought $20 was steep, especially for families with four kids and she commented going to Boomers was less. Vice Chair Morera explained the price included the shoes and two games of bowling. Ms. Schweitzer reported she bowled a few weeks ago on a Sunday night. The fee was a $5 flat fee and $1 for each game per person, plus the shoes. Vice Chair Morera thought the Board could not go lower on the price since it was a fundraiser and she acknowledged while it was not a significant fundraiser, it was 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 23, 2010 a fun and social event. There had also been some occasions where the lanes donated funds back to the Board. Chair Waldman agreed to handle the trophies. Participants would sign up as individual players, but could team up with whomever they choose. The price would be advertised as $10 per person as opposed to a doubles tournament and as a social event. Ms. Claude agreed to create a flyer. C. Youth Volunteer Bank This item was discussed earlier in the meeting. D. Fundraising Ms. Wilkinson spoke with the "Shred It" company that participated in the shredding fund- raiser held by the Kiwanis Club and Spanish River High School. The representative indicated the company participates in these events all the time and they would need to know the date of the event, how many trucks would be needed, the location, and if its size could accommodate the truck. Ms. Claude was also trying to obtain an answer whether there would be any issues with holding the event on City property but had not yet received a definite answer. She assumed the company would provide the insurance and needed to know how many companies provided this type of service and how was this company chosen. Ms. Wilkinson explained this company was mentioned because she had participated in this event with another organization and since she had the contact information, she called them. Participants were charged $5 per paper-sized box to discard the paper, which the truck shredded. The company donated the truck which was the size of a garbage truck. The event was a win-win for the company and the event holder. The Board received the money and the company was compensated for the recycled paper. The members agreed they should gear the advertising towards lawyers and CPAs and charge more than $5 per box. The Kiwanis Club held the event for about four hours. Ms. Wilkinson agreed to look into what kind of agreement they had. She expressed they would only want one truck. The members discussed various locations. It was thought holding the event in front of City Hall may be a viable location and Ms. Claude would find out if there would be a conflict of interest with any City retained shredding company. The Board agreed to target businesses that have lots of paper files and Ms. Wilkinson would check with the company to see if they would be available at the end of April after tax season. This event would be appropriate for disposing of confidential materials because the person bringing the documents would watch them be shredded. 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida September 23,2010 On a different matter, Chair Waldman received information from the Tax Collector about driver's licenses. When an individual applies for a driver's license, they now have to bring a certified U.S. Birth Certificate, a valid passport, their Social Security Card or W-2 form and two proofs of address. He requested passing on the information. E. League of Cities Chair Waldman explained the League of Cities was planning a youth leadership program, called Yodell, and was looking for youth council representatives aged 13-19 to attend the conferences. Boynton Beach does not have a youth council; however, a student still could attend or be recommended. Chair Waldman explained going to the Florida League of Cities or to the national conference was a great experience. It provided the opportunity to network because youth from all over the country attend. Delray Beach has an Education Coordinator, youth center, teen center and skate park. Chair Waldman and Wally Majors, Recreation and Parks Director, attended a luncheon held by the League of Cities, and the Education Coordinator made a brief presentation. While he thought the City should have some type of youth council, the League of Cities program was designed to have youth participate in City government. He had one draft copy of the program available for viewing by interested members. A council would not be formed this year, but it was something to plan and Chair Waldman had discussed it with Mr. Majors and City Manager, Kurt Bressner. Ms. Jones suggested when Chair Waldman speaks with Mr. Majors, he suggest the Youth Violence Prevention Program may be an easy avenue to pursue. The program was established and could be expanded. Chair Waldman agreed to advise Ms. Jones when he would meet with Mr. Bressner so the Board members could attend and help support the cause. VIII. Future Meeting Dates: October 28,2010 (Senior Center) IX. Adjournment Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to adjourn. Ms. Jones seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:04 p.m. CtoxiHu./)(~ (Jk U.,ir Catherine Cherry ,1 Recording Secretary '. 101110 6