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Minutes 10-27-11 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 27, 2011, AT 7:00 P.M. IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Stephen Waldman, Chair Mary Morera, Vice Chair Carol Lundquist Hattie Miller Libby Stroud Lori Wilkinson Dr. Tiffany North, Alternate Khadijah Davis, Student, Regular Voting Member Calin Roiban, Student, Regular Voting Member Sherri Claude, Board Liaison ABSENT: Myra Jones I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:04 p.m. II. Pledge of AllegiancelMoment of Silent Reflection Ms. Lundquist led the members in 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 22, 2011 There was one change to the minutes. Hattie Miller was listed as absent, but was present. Motion Ms. Wilkinson moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Stroud seconded the motion that unanimously passed. IV. Approval of Agenda Chair Waldman added a presentation by Jeanne Heavilin, of the Sister Cities organization, to Old Business, Item D. 1 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 27,2011 Motion Ms. Stroud moved to approve the agenda. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. An nou ncementslPresentations/Correspondence Sherri Claude, Board Liaison, noted one member had not taken the Mandatory Ethics Training. She agreed to forward the link to take the training online as well as the Ethics Certification form to sign upon completion of the training. Ms. Claude named the members of the Board who needed to submit applications for reappointment. VI. Public Audience None. VII. New Business A. Student Exchange Jeanne Heavilin, of the Sister Cities organization, explained Dan DeCarlo, a Sister City Board Member living in China, was trying to organize a student exchange program for the summer. Ms. Heavilin met with Tony Durante, who handles the Delray Beach Sister Cities exchange program. Ms. Heavilin distributed notes of her meeting to the members and commented, if desired, the Boynton Beach Exchange Program could be modified. The Delray Beach model was very thorough. In this program, five to seven students from local high schools in grades 9 to 11, submit an application and make a commitment to tour the community to learn what it has to offer. They then make presentations to the community the year following the exchange. Ms. Heavilin explained each student would stay with a host student about the same age. The Boynton student would shadow the exchange student and stay two days with the host family. The entire trip was seven days, although Mr. DeCarlo envisioned the trip would be several weeks. Ms. Heavilin explained Asian cultures were not as comfortable having non-family guests in their homes as Americans were, and the length of stay was contingent on learning what host families were willing to do. One major component of the program was orientation, which was an intense weekly program that runs September through May for the students selected to participate. Students are ambassadors of the City and much time would be spent learning basic 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 27, 2011 language, so the students could introduce themselves properly and know basic vocabulary about household items, hygiene, food and currency, and how to behave. Ms. Heavilin inquired who would handle the program for Boynton Beach. She introduced Chris Francois, President of the Sister Cities Committee, who stated she did thought they could not undertake the task. Discussion turned to tying the program into an existing student exchange program to avoid starting the process from scratch. It was suggested it would be beneficial to contact the Chinese language program or have students or teachers willing to take over the orientation program. It was noted there is a Chinese language class in Boynton Beach on Saturdays, and Palm Beach County has a dual-language, full-immersion program, which included Chinese. There is a Chinese-American Friendship Group that may be of help. Chair Waldman discussed the program with personnel at Boynton Beach High School who could contact individuals in the international program and identify three or four students. Ms. Wilkinson had a tie to the multicultural program at the school district and would contact them. There was agreement the Board was not equipped to take-on this program at this time, but could facilitate the event, keeping next summer as the goal. Dr. North suggested contacting local universities and colleges who have cultural groups and overseas programs already established. She pointed out Lynn University and FAU have international departments they work with to facilitate the trips. Ms. Heavilin had also met with individuals from Miami-Dade College, which has a good teacher exchange program. The Board had contacts with Lynn University, FAU, Broward College and Nova University. It was thought the Board could be on a Committee to assist with the program. There was agreement Ms. Wilkinson would make some calls and forward information to Ms. Heavilin and Ms. Francois. Once the information was received, they could approach the High School. Chair Waldman received an email from Mr. DeCarlo, which Ms. Francois read to the members. Mr. DeCarlo's daughter had put together an international corner, which was like an English Club. The idea was to match students. Ms. Stroud left the meeting at 7:32 p.m. Airfare to China was $1,100 to $1,200, and youth would have to pay their way. A total of $2,500 per student was more than enough. The Sister Cities organization does a lot of fundraising to help subsidize the trips. If the program were implemented next year, fundraising could occur. Chair Waldman suggested the Chamber of Commerce be contacted to help in this regard. Ms. Heavilin also stated, the City Commission approved Les Cayes, Haiti as a second Sister City. She hoped to have the paperwork finalized by December. Les Cayes is 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 27,2011 located on the southern coast of Haiti. Tourism is one of their biggest industries. Their population is similar to Boynton Beach, and education and housing were the top two priorities. They have a 10-year strategic plan in place for economic development, and there should be a lot of opportunity. A letter of invitation would be sent to the Mayor of Les Caves to come to Boynton Beach to sign the agreement. It was hoped their Visa's would be approved by December. Young Artist/Young Artist r community, or Ilfe. m Ie would April, was to a month 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board n Beach Florida October 2011 p,m, B. January Meeting Ms. Claude stated City Commission Chambers were not available for the January 26, 2012 meeting. If the Board wanted to meet in Chambers, January 25th was available. After brief discussion there was discussion they would see if a Library Conference Room was available for the meeting on the 26th. VIII. Old Business A. Shred-a-Thon (report) Ms. Wilkinson explained the Shred-a-Thon fundraiser was held and the Board raised about $1,800. The event was very successful. Individuals were at the site at 9:30a.m., and the trucks arrived by 10 a.m. Some people gave extra money and there were quite a few doctors, lawyers and CPA firms that participated. There was also interest in knowing when the next Shred-a-Thon would be held. Some x-rays and hard drives were brought for shredding, which could not be serviced, as it was a paper only event and x-rays required a different truck. The company, however, graciously transported 25 boxes of x-rays back for shredding at no charge. Ms. Wilkinson thanked MicroShred LLC and explained there was an issue with the original company they were going to use. MicroShred volunteered to assist for free. They brought two trucks: one for the shredding, and the other for the boxes individuals used to bring their documents. If the company charged, they would have charged $300 per hour. MicroShred volunteers for these types of events three or four times per year and all they ask for in return was for the Board to advertise for them. The Board did so via 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 27, 2011 advertisements in the Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel, WRMB Radio, and WPTV Channel 5, which came from the City Press Release. Ms. Claude got the word out to Glenn Jergensen from the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber posted the event on the Chamber Facebook page, in the Boynton Buzz Newsletter, and on their main website. The City Police Department included the event on their Facebook page and several members of the Board posted it on their personal Facebook pages. Ms. Wilkinson called the radio station and plugged the event on two different radio shows. It was noted all the proceeds went to the Harvey Oyer, Jr. Account. The Board paid $25, as the City required an insurance rider, and Chair Waldman donated a $40 tip to the employees who took the boxes out of the vehicles and shredded them. It was manual labor intensive. The company was a family-owned company and they were amenable to working with the Board to hold the event on a regular basis. If the Board made money on the event, they could split the proceeds or receive a discount. After brief discussion, the members agreed an after tax season Shred-a-Thon would be a good time to hold the event again. One woman commented her practice had an entire warehouse of outdated records and did not know where to dispose of them. The event was highly successful. Chair Waldman complimented Ms. Wilkinson as the event was her idea and she worked hard on it. Ms. Wilkinson and the Board thanked Ms. Claude for her assistance. There was agreement to hold another event in May. Ms. Wilkinson would contact the company and send a thank you note to the company from the Board. She would also send thank you letters to the editors of the newspapers. She expressed thanks to Mr. Fogerty, the School Principal and Boynton Beach High School, MicroShred, LLC, Ms. Claude, and everyone who posted the event. B. Program Planning for Upcoming Year Chair Waldman commented he had not called the bowling alley regarding having a bowling tournament. In the past, AMF Bowling Lanes were receptive to the event as long as advance notice was given, and the Board purchased food from them. Chair Waldman inquired if the Board was interested in him approaching the CRA to partner in the event. Discussion followed any organization could partner in the event and split the proceeds. In prior years, the Board had not raised a lot of money, but sought to make the event more of a family day. After brief discussion, there was agreement to set a date at the next meeting. Vice Chair Morera secured the date for the Tennis Carnival for April 28,. 2012, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at Hunters Run. The event would be in the next issue of FunFare Magazine and registration would be handled the same way as other Recreation and Parks events. The Carnival usually draws 30 players. The event was being held earlier in the day due to the heat. Vice Chair Morera usually handles the refreshments. 6 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Beach, Florida October 27, 2011 C. Youth Volunteer Bank/Bob Borovy Award Ms. Claude stated the Borovy Award application had been updated and was posted on the website. It would also be in the next issue of FunFare Magazine. The information was sent to Boynton Beach High School, at their request, and she would email the other high schools as well as send out a press release next month. The deadline was April 2, 2012. The Youth Volunteer Bank has about 80 volunteers and Ms. Claude noted there are new participants. Ms. Claude commented she emails the volunteers when the Sand Sifters hold an event. IX. Future Meeting Dates The next meeting date was December 1, 2011. X. Adjournment There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Wilkinson moved to adjourn. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m. Catherine Cherry Recording Secretary 110211 7