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Minutes 09-26-13 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2013, AT 600 P.., IN CITY HALL COMMISSION CHAMBERS, 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BLVD. BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Carla Colebrooks- Spencer (arrived 6:04 p.m.) Carol Lundquist Dr. Tiffany North Loretta Wilkinson (arrived at 6:96 p.m.) Kellsie Kershaw, Student Voting Member ABSENT: Mary Morera, Vice Chair Hattie Miller Gerline Christophe, Alternate Lourdes Paola Alvarez, Student Voting Member Dawson Charles Hagger- Lendoiro, Student Non - Voting Member I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Self- introductions were made. 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 August 22, 2013 Sherri Claude, Board Liaison noted two changes to the minutes as follows: Page 8, bottom paragraph, "Ms. Wilkinson reported that St. ^ laysius Santaluces High School houses children from Boynton Beach and she inquired if the Adopt -a- Classroom program works only with public schools." Page 10, fifth paragraph, "She will reach out to Ms. Gonzalez at Recreation and Parks Department Youth Leadership Program for assistance." Motion Dr. North moved to approve the minutes as amended. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL S 26, 2013 IV. Approval of Agenda Adopt a Classroom was added to Old Business as Item A, and the following items renumbered next. Motion Ms. Lundquist moved to approve the agenda. Dr. North seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. Announcements /Presentations /Correspondence None. VI. Public Audience Mafia Sharpley and Kim Sue, with Kaplan, Inc., explained one of their interns, Board Member Gerline Christophe, works with their team and is working on the Dreamers Education Initiative. Kaplan is an educational company in Ft. Lauderdale that has a long history of serving underserved populations. The company started in Stanley Kaplan's basement and served immigrants who could not afford college. One such facility was Kaplan University that started 75 years ago to serve women. In 1900, Hester College in New Hampshire was started because New Hampshire did not have a public education system and after high school, students did not have the funds to go to private college. This initiative is continued through the Kaplan Dreamers Education Initiative to give dreamers, who are young, undocumented immigrants, the opportunity to go to college, but also the funds to go to college. Hester College reintroduced a national online program and rebranded the college as Mt. Washington College. It is a fully accredited college in New Hampshire with a 113 -year history. There are three campuses and with the new national online program, they are expanding their presence. The programs offered through the Mt. Washington Online Program are the Associates and Bachelor's Degrees in Business Administration. The program started this fall and they are looking to spread the word. Hester College costs about $6,000 per year. An Associate's degree is $12K and a Bachelor's degree is $24K. They understand even at that cost, there are people who cannot afford college. So in conjunction with the Washington Post company, they are raising private funds to support dreamers at Washington College, and will fund up to 85% of the cost, assuming the dreamer meets the criteria and they started the paperwork. They are evaluated on merit and need. Any student who achieved a B in high school and maintains a B in the program has access to these funds. At the end of their degree, if they receive an A- or better there is a one- time honors grant to reimburse the student for out -of- pocket tuition paid. If a student 2 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 signed up for an Associate's degree and takes the needs based assessment which is evaluated through Scholarship America, receives an A and can pay $1,000, the scholarship will cover the $5,000. At the end of two years, the student will have paid $2,000 and the scholarship paid $10,000. If the student receives an A- or better, they will reimburse the student their $2,000. The Associate degree is a two -year program and the Bachelors degree is four years. They have an online and hybrid version for students studying in the classroom. The program Ms. Sharpley had discussed was the 100% online version for $6,000. The school has a Career Services Office for placement of all students. As part of the Dreamers Education Initiative, they give additional support for dreamers including academic support through a partnership with Pearson. They are building their own curriculum to help with some of the softer skills. Through different business units and initiatives, it was learned it was not the academics the students struggled with. It was the communication, time management and other softer skills they lack. They are using that to support dreamers. Chair Waldman inquired if Kaplan representatives attend high school college fairs. Ms. Sharpley responded they started doing so in August and were also working with community groups. They have launched marketing efforts in South Florida and New York City. They have contacted various religious organizations, immigration centers, lawyers and other groups who touch and serve these populations. They feel the best way to reach the client is to go where they are, so they are actively seeking different channels. The admission criterion for dreamers at Hester College is the same as for other students. They have to graduate from high school and receive a grade of C or better. A Social Security number is not a criterion for admission. To be considered a dreamer, the student must be under 30, been in the country since age 16, attended a U.S. high school or have a GED and not have received papers to officially reside in the U.S. To have access to the funding and the scholarship, students had to have applied for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA). In July 2012, President Obama signed an executive act that gave undocumented minors in the U.S. the opportunity to get a work permit to allow them to work. They will have a Social Security Number, can obtain a driver's license and it is a two -year permit renewable up to 3 times. During that time, the deportation process is halted; it is not a pathway to citizenship. Ms. Lundquist inquired about the virtual classroom. She noted in elementary programs, the virtual classroom takes place during school hours, not 24- hours. Ms. Sharpley explained the program is self -paced for core classes. They have access to the materials, notes, books and assignments. Depending on what the student selects, the system is open at all times. Professors teach and advise students when the lectures 3 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 are. If the student cannot attend the lecture, they can view it later and see all the notes. There are discussion boards and chats. The self -paced element is very different from other colleges. Only two or three colleges have flexible schedules. If a student signs up for four courses, the term is about 20 weeks. Students can vary the class lengths and it is a good way for students to balance work and life. Chair Waldman inquired how many students advisors have. Ms. Sharpley explained it varied depending on the student population and they add advisors as needed. They hire advisors who can relate to students and they are bilingual in Spanish. He also inquired if they speak with high school guidance counselors and Ms. Sharpley explained they were just starting that process. Now that school is open, it will be easier to make contact. It is a grass roots effort. Ms. Wilkinson requested adding discussion of "Boynton Reads" to the agenda. There were no objections. Jeanne Heavilin, Sister Cities, announced Jude Avril is the new President of Sister Cities. Dan DeCarlo is Vice Chair and Ms. Heavilin will stay on as secretary/treasurer. Last time she appeared, she spoke about the Youth Leadership Summit in San Jose. Someone was supposed to send a template. Ms. Wilkinson commented she sent it the Chair and there was agreement it would be forwarded. The Young Artists /Young Authors received word from the Boynton Beach Mall they can exhibit from March 23 to April 4th and the mall management is not charging the organization. She inquired of the Board, since they co- sponsor the event, about a Certificate of Insurance for the exhibit. Ms. Claude agreed to discuss it with Risk Management and it was noted they would setup for the event. There is a mini -golf tournament on November 21st with details to follow. Chair Waldman explained Mr. DeCarlo visited before returning to China. Mr. DeCarlo had suggested two students come to Boynton Beach High School, finish their senior year and move on to college. But, they discovered a foreign exchange student cannot graduate from a U.S. high school. Students receive credit for going to high school in the U.S. but the credits are not equal to the ones in their homeland. There are many restrictions for exchange students, so the thought was to have students who would be juniors come and return. Mr. DeCarlo and Christiane Francois were in QuFu discussing exchanges and exploring options. Ms. Heavilin noted the State Department Exchange program was working through the Sister Cities organization. Ms. Wilkinson inquired why not go through already established exchange programs, and Ms. Heavilin explained it had to do with cost. 4 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 Vli. New Business A. Tennis Carnival Phyllis Stern, a former board member, started the Tennis Carnival at Hunters Run and it has been ongoing for seven years. The Carnival serves about 30 youth of varying ages and professionals play tennis with them. Ms. Stern passed away and her daughter, Laurie Golden, wants to continue it. She and her father and Chair Waldman met with Hunters Run and set a date of Saturday, April 26th. Chair Waldman has some trophies for the winners and finalists. Chair Waldman asked the tennis pro to provide tennis lessons to one or two youth. Participants would receive tennis rackets, the games and other items. The Board would provide water and Ms. Golden would contact him. He would refer her to Vice Chair Morera who has always assisted with this event and the event would be advertised in FunFare Magazine. He noted they do not have a rain date. Arrangements were made with the Hunters Run Board to get the activity approved. There is also a Commissioner representing Hunters Run who could support the event. It was a good photo opportunity and they would publicize the event. Vlll. Old Business A. Adopt a Classroom Ms. Colebrooks explained Vice Chair Morera gave her the name of a program from Congress Middle School that could benefit from the Adopt -a- Classroom program. She explained they can choose a department like they did in the past for the Congress Middle School Science Department, but for elementary and high school, the School Board indicated they had to adopt a teacher or program. A school can be a charter school, but must fall under the umbrella of schools from Palm Beach County. Ms. Claude did not have the check yet for the Congress Middle School Science Department and would ensure all the checks would be addressed to whomever they needed to be addressed. She had the name of a science teacher in Congress Middle School, but needed more specific information for the other two schools. Ms. Wilkinson recalled Laura Orlove in Forest Park was on the list. They did not have a name for South Tech Academy. Since Board Member Kershaw attends South Tech Academy and the head of the Medical Academy was Ms. Moore. After brief discussion, there was agreement to send a check for the Department to her. Ms. Wilkinson gave an update on the Boynton Reads Program. At the last meeting, Laura Orlove spoke about the program. Ms. Wilkinson attended the meeting which drew 15 people from the City, the elementary schools in the area, the Children's Services 5 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 Council and others. Each gave an update on what was occurring. The program has two goals. The first focused on tardiness and attendance and the second was a book drive. Ms. Orlove wanted to get books to children as some children have never owned a book at home. Last year, Barnes and Noble donated 23,000 books to the Palm Beach County School District and last year the school district chose the schools. There were 16 schools chosen and not one in Boynton Beach. Barnes and Noble was upset about this and felt the school district did not hold their end of the bargain The manager of the Boynton Beach Barnes and Noble commented the store alone, without Barnes and Noble Corporate, was trying to work on something in the City and get a more localized book drive. They are trying to train clerks to ask if customers would purchase a book from a preset list for less than $10. Last year, the Rotary distributed the books and they are trying to figure out how to distribute them. The City will have designated areas to pick up the books and the program will run from Black Friday to January 12th. Ms. Wilkinson commented last year, recreational facilities were drop points for books, but so far they have not been approved. Ms. Claude did not think it was a problem to get boxes and have signage for the program. Subway was a sponsor and last year, Starbucks had a box to donate new and used books. Ms. Wilkinson commented the Boynton Reads group is always looking for new sponsors. She noted the next meeting is on Tuesday, October 15th at 4:30 p.m. in the back of the Library in the conference room. The organization wanted to make it clear to those who donate that they need books for grades 4, 5 and 6. The idea of gently used books was good, but everyone's definition of gently used was different, so they want new books. Also, the topics were not all appropriate for the age groups, so more work was actually created because volunteers had to sift through checking on the condition of the book and then for content. By donating new books only, they will pick the books ahead of time. Currently, the Happily Ever After event is occurring in the elementary schools in conjunction with the Literacy Coalition, Palm Beach County Reads (PBCReads.org), the Children's Services Council and the School District. Under this program, every elementary -aged student is given a book. Scholastic is donating books, and each school has a small castle the students can play in. At Ms. Wilkinson's school, they are going class by class and students pick a book. Each child would also get a backpack. As to the first goal of tardiness and attendance, it was not only problematic at Forest Park. Students, if they come to school 10 or 20 minutes late each day, will have missed hours by the end of year. This is where Subway and the Fire Department stepped in. The Fire Department offered to hold a dinner for the five schools that are targeted, which were Crosspointe, Poinciana, Rolling Green, Forest Park and Galaxy Elementary Schools for students and up to 10 of their family members who have completed the project to come to school on time and who were reading their books. They will try to 6 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 obtain small rewards for students along the way building up to a big reward. They hoped to have a program in place by November 8th so they can distribute their first set of rewards. They were trying to enlist businesses. Ms. Wilkinson noted she attended Boynton Reads meeting in the stead of Chair Waldman, but she cannot attend due to her schedule. The meetings were moved back from 4 to 4:30 p.m. and they are quick and to the point, lasting only an hour. It was thought a representative from the Board should attend. The meetings are held on the third Tuesday of the month, and children are welcome. They plan to rotate the meeting locations and they would like to enlist businesses to host a meeting. Chair Waldman inquired if there were any objections to his speaking with IVis. Orlove about the program or donate $100 for it. There were none. Ms. Wilkinson commented the organization does not have a bank account. Chair Waldman sought to donate items to be used for small rewards and Ms. Wilkinson offered to speak with Ms. Orlove to determine what would be appropriate and how to meet their needs. In the past, employees were given an hour a week to read and mentor students. Ms. Claude agreed to check on this. October 3rd was read for the record, which was a nationwide effort to read Otis the Tractor. Rolling Green Elementary has a game night coming up and was holding a rotation to try to promote families learning more about FCAT. One rotation spot in the games is geared to FCAT. Literacy Week at that school is November 18 -22 nd and they are looking for volunteers to read to the students. There is a Positive Parenting Program available and they are looking for mentors for parents. Rolling Green is in a neighborhood that is in need. Parents are working several jobs and are not home enough to be with their children, or they are very young. There are a large number of individuals under 22 years old with children in elementary school and the program would mentor them. B. Shred- A -Thon (10/19/13) Ms. Wilkinson explained the contract was sent today. Once received, they can start advertising. Chair Waldman explained he spoke to Boynton Beach High School regarding the date which was fine. Ms. Wilkinson had posters for the event and it was noted the Police Department advertised it one time on their webpage. Any other publicity would be helpful. Ms. Wilkinson would try to create an event on Facebook so she could connect members to it to circulate the event to various groups Ms. Lundquist noted they need signage at the location, and the signs were in Ms. Wilkinson's garage. The event will cost them $500, and once Ms. Claude received the agreement she will process a request for a check and give it to members ahead of time for the day of the event. Board members can call individuals who gave numbers in the past, and Ms. Claude would handle the emails. It was suggested everyone call 10 people. Ms. Wilkinson commented the newspaper is the best source of advertising. 7 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 The shredding is for paper only. The cost is $5 per paper box which is comparable to a 12 inch by 18 inch banker's box size. If larger, they can charge more and Ms. Wilkinson noted the Board has to estimate how many boxes constitute the paper customers bring in bags. Chair Waldman contacted Mr. Oyer to alert him that the Board adopted a classroom and a thank you was received from him, however, there was no contribution made at this time. The proceeds go to the students and youth. Chair Waldman inquired if anyone attended Galaxy School and he offered to bring request forms to Galaxy in case they needed funds. He noted funds were donated to the school Ms. Colebrook works in and she commented the programs were active. C. Youth Volunteer Bank/Bob Borovy Award Chair Waldman noted the Award only had about two years of funds left. This Award is given to a graduating student, who lives in the community and has performed outstanding community service. The student writes an essay and a committee selects the winner. There is a $1,000 cash award. The funds raised from the Shred -A -Thou can be earmarked where the Board feels it is appropriate. Ms. Claude inquired if they want to earmark the funds this year and decide whether to continue the program the following year. Brief discussion followed they needed to increase the funds and not change the scholarship. When asked how many youth were involved in the program, Ms. Claude thought there between 100 and 120 volunteers. D. Fundraising Chair Waldman commented they fundraise through the Shred -A -Thou and if anyone had ideas, they should bring them forward. Previously, the Board used to obtain cookie donations to sell at Intracoastal Park and in the past, Commissioners had discretionary funds they used. Commissioner Casello noted Discretionary funds were in this year's budget. Chair Waldman inquired how to make a request and was advised to do so. Ms. Lundquist inquired if there were flyers advertising the Shred -A -Thon. Ms. Claude had created a flyer and once they became available, they can be circulated. Ms. Wilkinson explained, in her experience, the flyers were not that effective. Doctors and lawyers, CPA's and mortgage brokers that have files needing to be destroyed were good clients. She noted a pediatric firm comes every time and they come with boxes. She stressed x -rays and CDs were not allowed. It was noted the Shred -A -Thon was 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Ms. Wilkinson commented Chair Waldman and she are involved in the Greater Boynton Beach Foundation and in February, there will be a fundraiser for the Barrier Free Park on Congress Avenue. The concept behind the park is individuals with all abilities, including wheelchairs, walkers, strollers, autistic and physically impaired individuals can go to the park and use the equipment. She commented the Park was amazing and she 8 MEETING MINUTES EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY Board BOYNTON BEACH, FL SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 gave its location. There will be a 5K walk/run on Saturday, February 8 that goes through the community of Hunter's Run. The cost is $35 per person and registrations are up and available. There will be wheelchair, kids, run and walk divisions starting at 7:30 a.m. Flyers were being made. She requested individuals save the date and commented volunteers were needed. IX. Future Meeting Dates: October 24, 2013 December 5, 2013 X. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Colebrooks moved to adjourn. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:19 p.m. Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 100393 9