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Minutes 06-23-11 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON JUNE 23, 2011, AT 7:00 P.M. IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Mary Morera, Vice Chair Myra Jones Carol Lundquist Hattie Miller Khadijah Davis, Student regular voting member April Nobles, Alternate Dr. Tiffany North, Alternate ABSENT: Libby Stroud Lori Wilkinson Mikerline Louis, Student non-voting member Emily Schweitzer, Student regular voting member I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance/Moment of Silent Reflection Ms. Jones led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag followed by a moment of silent reflection. III. Approval of Minutes of April 28, 2011 Motion Ms. Lundquist moved to approve the minutes as presented. Vice Chair Morera seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Approval of Agenda Motion Vice Chair Morera moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL June 23, 2011 V. Announcements/Presentations/Correspondence Ms. Claude announced the Recreation and Parks Department had their accreditation meeting. A team of three professionals in the field came from out of state, reviewed the Department files, and spoke with staff, the City Manager and City Commissioners. The report was received from the Team and the Department was reaccredited. One hundred forty-four standards were identified with 36 of them identified as fundamental. The Department scored 97% and was very proud of the designation. Chair Waldman put it on record that Recreation and Parks is the best department in the City. Ms. Claude read a letter from Ludnie Mauretour, the Bob Borovy Award recipient into the record as follows: “I want to sincerely thank you for the Bob Borovy Student Citizen of the Year Scholarship. I greatly appreciate your generosity in helping me reach my educational goals. I am so grateful for being the Bob Borovy Student of this year, every bit helps. I am more than honored to have been selected. It is only my second year in the United States and I feel already very proud. It seemed almost like a gift from above and I want you to know how thankful I am that there are wonderful people willing to help me. A special thanks to Mrs. Borovy, the judges, the award committee, and to you for helping me make my future plan possible.” A letter will be sent to Ken Nichols, at American Legion Post 164, which is the post that had provided the funds in the past for the Borovy Award. The letter was a collaborative effort between Chair Waldman and Ms. Claude, which indicated the Board appreciated the Post’s generosity and awarded over $15,500 in cash and bonds to winners and runners up. He thanked Post 164 and indicated his hope they would continue providing funds to continue the award. Discussion followed the Board has approximately three years worth of funds left so the account needed to be replenished. Additionally at the awards ceremony for school district volunteers, Chair Waldman received an award recognizing the Boynton Beach Youth Advisory Board and Chair. The award recognized the Boards efforts to assist schools and, more specifically, Boynton Beach High School, and the Theater Arts program. Chair Waldman acknowledged Susan Pell wrote the letter of support, which enabled his name to be on the award. It was unknown if the award could be displayed in City Hall. VI. Public Audience None. 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL June 23, 2011 VII. New Business A. Election of Board Chair and Vice Chair Chair Waldman noted Ms. Wilkinson was unable to attend the meeting. Ms. Lundquist nominated Steve Waldman as Chair seconded by Vice Chair Morera. There were no other nominations. A vote was taken and unanimously passed. Chair Waldman passed the gavel to Vice Chair Morera and nominated Mary Morera as Vice Chair. Ms. Lundquist seconded the nomination. There were no other nominations. A vote was taken and unanimously passed. Chair Waldman recognized new Board Member Stroud was unable to attend. He also noted Ms. Schweitzer has missed four meetings and he would ask the Commission to appoint one of the applicants, Aneysha Roberts, who also attended the awards ceremony. B. Program Planning for Upcoming Year Chair Waldman commented he was approached by Glenn Jergensen about the Shred- A-Thon and advised it was moved to October. He spoke with Ms. Wilkinson to ensure the activity was approved by the City and the School District. Chair Waldman announced the fee to hold the event at Boynton Beach High School was waived. He wanted to ensure the date did not conflict with a school event and suggested they address the matter at the next meeting. Another Shred-A-Thon could occur in the spring. He noted if the Board set up the event this year, it would have conflicted with graduation. Two shredding events would be held annually. Chair Waldman announced he would be approaching one of the managers at Wachovia Bank about their charitable foundation. He announced he was unsure how much to request. Discussion followed it would be helpful to know the typical award amount. Chair Waldman wanted to replenish the funds the Board lost through the loss of City Commission Discretionary Funds. He estimated the Board received about $4,000 from the Commission, and Chair Waldman hoped to receive at least $5,000 from the bank. Chair Waldman also spoke with individuals from the Chamber of Commerce and Glenn Jergensen. He advised he would like to make a presentation with Vice Chair Morera and inform the Chamber of the Board’s accomplishments and activities. If the Chamber donated funds, the award could be called the Chamber of Commerce Youth Volunteer Award and it would be publicized as such. Chair Waldman also would contact Harvey Oyer, Jr. to see if the family could assist the Board or put them in contact with others who could assist the Board. He would provide 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL June 23, 2011 Mr. Oyer with the Board’s accomplishments and indicted he would like to spend more time on this matter at the next meeting. The Board currently holds Bowling, Tennis and other events. He requested the members think about what other activities they could do to assist the High School. The Board’s activities and events would be put on a calendar. Discussion followed about creating a form letter to send to business managers extolling the benefits the Board provides to the community. If a donation were not possible, gift cards could be given instead. Costco and BJ’s were identified, and the members were asked to list local businesses they feel may assist the Board. The business did not have to be in Boynton Beach, rather they should be ones that the members frequent, who may be inclined to assist the Board. Sam’s Club, PNC Bank and Bank of America have community foundations. In addition to Wachovia, Bank United could be approached through Ms. Ernst. Publix has provided funds in the past and has a foundation as does Target. There was further discussion, once school commenced, the Board could speak with school principals about upcoming projects they want to plan. The Board could then approach an establishment and make a pitch for funds to use for the project. Ms. Jones was aware most of the schools do not have any funding for field trips. Another project could be the Boynton Choir, as they cannot travel because they do not have the income to do so. Of 11 schools in the area, four schools have approached the Board. Ms. Jones suggested putting funds aside for the field trips, perhaps one field trip per school, which would alleviate the Board repeatedly being approached. Chair Waldman noted the Board just gave Galaxy Elementary School $300. A database of corporations and foundations, which offer grants on an annual basis, could be created. Dr. North commented Target has a grant specifically for field trips, which comes out every August. She named at least three other foundations she was aware of that could provide assistance and she agreed to create a list and forward it to Ms. Claude. The list could be referred to each year depicting the purpose of the grants and the deadlines. (Vice Chair Morera left the meeting at 7:29 p.m.) Chair Waldman advised this topic would be addressed at the July meeting. He also agreed to work with Ms. Claude to create a form letter VIII. Old Business A. Youth Volunteer Bank At the May 17, 2011 City Commission meeting, 42 students received an award and gift card. Many Poinciana students were present and about half of the volunteers were present. Ms. Nobles agreed to provide information on the upcoming “Meet the Teacher” day at Poinciana. 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, FL June 23, 2011 Chair Waldman announced he and Ms. Jones attended the Galaxy Groundbreaking Ceremony and the school would be impressive. He noted two years ago, the District wanted to close the school down and activism really helped. Ms. Jones thanked the members for their efforts. The members were requested to bring their ideas to the next meeting. If the members speak with their Commissioners and/or the Mayor, it would go a long way to remind them the Board is available to serve the youth and community and they miss their funding. The economy would improve and it would be great if they would support the Board by reinstating their funding of the Board's activities. Ms. Jones inquired about the Youth Volunteer project. Ms. Claude explained one year, the project was to paint the American Legion Post. Another year they planted outside of Rolling Green School. Every year or every other year, there was a big project done, usually in conjunction with a scout troop and the Board, and anyone in the Youth Volunteer Bank program was invited to attend. The butterfly garden by the Library was another project done with the Cub Scouts. Chair Waldman thought they should contact the individuals from the Boy Scouts to see if there were any upcoming projects. He also hoped to have money available for spring training. B. Fundraising IX. Future Meeting Dates: July 28, 2011 August 25,2011 X. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Mr. Jones moved to adjourn. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:39 p.m. d ruJw\JJy~},_ ~~l ~ Catherine Cherry cr Recording Secretary 063011 5