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Minutes 09-24-15 MINUTES OF THE EDUCATION AND YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD MEETING HELD ON THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015, AT 6:00 P.M., CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS CITY HALL 100 E. BOYNTON BEACH BOULEVARD, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA PRESENT: Steve Waldman, Chair Sherri Claude, Board Liaison Dr. Stephanie Hayden, Vice Chair (arrived 6:06 p.m.) Carla Colebrooks Carole Lundquist Valencia Spells Anderson Mary Morera (arrived 6:06 p.m.) Hattie Miller Kathleen Wilkinson, Student, Regular Voting Member Lori Wilkinson, Alternate ABSENT: Dr. Tiffany North, Alternate Jason Braten, Student, Regular Non - Voting Member I. Call to Order Chair Waldman called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. II. Pledge of Allegiance /Moment of Silent Reflection Self- introductions were made. III. Approval of Minutes of June 25, 2015 IV. Approval of Minutes of July 23, 2015 Motion Lori Wilkinson moved to approve the June and July minutes. Ms. Lundquist seconded the motion that unanimously passed. V. Approval of Minutes of August 27, 2015 The minutes were not available. VI. Approval of Agenda There were no changes to the agenda. Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton B each, Florida Septem 24, 2015 VII. Announcements /Presentations /Correspondence Chair Waldman announced the Board is a City Board created to help schools and youth. The invitation was extended to inform the schools about the Board and for the Board to find out what school needs were and offer assistance. Chair Waldman explained they created a donation request form for schools to use and explained how the process worked. The Board could offer some financial assistance and in some instances, manpower. Lori Wilkinson explained the history and evolution of the Board, which was formerly known as the Children and Youth Advisory Board. They are advisory to the City Commission. The mission and vision of the Board is to take all the great things occurring in the City involving youth and education the City Commission may not know about and present it to them. They may apprise the City Commission about issues that may come before them for a vote. The Board fundraises specifically to give back to the community. The City holds the bank accounts and the Board is responsible and accountable for the funds. Chair Waldman explained on October 17 between 10 a.m. and noon, the Board will hold their Shred- a -Thon fundraiser at Boynton Beach High School. It cost $5 to shred a banker's box full of paper. He advised over the last few years, they raised over $1,000 at each event and that money is given to the educational community. They have a youth volunteer bank. If youth sign up, any volunteer hours the student performs are banked and at the end of the year, they receive prizes. It fosters volunteerism. Chair Waldman acknowledged students have to do volunteer work at the high school, but it can also be volunteer work for the Board. It only requires the parent's signature and youth could be middle and high school students. Chair Waldman advised in the past, the Board has adopted classrooms at several elementary schools and the high school. They gave money to Poinciana for the Mathematician, Odyssey of the Mind and Lego programs. They donated to students competing in a cheerleading contest, and to Presidential Classrooms. They purchase ads in playbills for the high school theater and donated helmets to different high schools. The garden at Freedom Shores Elementary School was partially funded by the Board who also donated for kids' swimming lessons and the Sister Cities program, donating funds for their wheelchair program and Young Artists /Authors competitions. The Board wants to donate to projects the school may have. Lori Wilkinson highlighted the Bob Borovy Award, which was associated with the Youth Bank. Bob Borovy was a former Board member who had a heart for community service and volunteerism. They have a scholarship named after him and senior students that live in Boynton Beach can apply. The Board gives a substantial award, but each year only two or three students apply. Julie Beasley, Freedom Shores Elementary School, explained over the years the Board supported the school Science, Engineering, Math, Communication and Enrichment (SEMCE) Club where they build leadership. Last year, the Board donated to their garden which won the Golden Shovel Award for the best new garden in the State from the Agricultural Society. It 2 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board B oynton Beach, Florida September 2, 2015 was a joint adventure with the Guidance Department to create a place of serenity for students which became a key part to the school. The project was enriching student lives and this year they planned to partner with the Community Caring Center to donate vegetables to the Center's Veggie Mobile. She thanked the Board and expressed her appreciation on behalf of the students at Freedom Shores. Ms. Beasley explained they planned to refurbish the butterfly garden, and after that, create an edible forest having plants indigenous to Florida. It fit the standard layers of a rainforest and would be a multi- faceted program. Chair Waldman thought these projects should be publicized. Ms. Beasley responded they have a blog that chronicled each step taken to create the garden. They were in the Boynton newspaper and they get the word out to anyone that will listen. They were honored by the District at one of their meetings and they are always on the District website. When they started the garden they had no vision of a garden club. Students come in early to work in the garden. They capped the garden's caretakers at 30 last year and have over 60 applications this year. Vice Chair Hayden asked if she contacted the 4 -H organization and learned Ms. Beasley held a workshop for the 4 -H organization in Broward County and a STEM program was included with it. Fred Barsh, Principal Boynton Beach Community High School, announced they also started a garden at the High School and the State gives three Golden Shovel Awards. Freedom Shores received one award and Boynton Beach High School received another. He announced it was a huge honor. He informed the Board they have about 12 different academies. They started a medical program with a $500,000 grant from the Pew Foundation, which was needed desperately because the middle schools have medical programs. They have the Dimensional Harmony Choir. Choirs cannot apply to sing in international choir festivals. They have to be invited. They received an invitation including a visit from the Lord Mayor Catherine Longworth of Westminster, who had a police escort to the High School and extended an invitation to sing in London. The challenge is raising the money to get the students to London. They have a GoFundMe.com /DimensionalHarmony site containing news releases about the program. To take the entire Choir, they need $160,000. If they could raise $40,000 to $50,000, they will take 30 or 40 students. Chair Waldman explained he gave the director a donation request form. The Choir will be signing for the City Commission in October. Mr. Barsh announced he has been at Boynton Beach High School for two years and believes in an open -door policy. If anyone wants a tour or a visit they will make arrangements. He thought the high school was the best kept secret in Boynton Beach and was trying to get the community involved. Chair Waldman commented he did not think people understand how talented the high school staff is. Mr. Barsch agreed. Iraida Loehrig, the coordinator for the Career Academies at Boynton Beach Community High School, advised they have 12 academies. One of her initial goals was to get the Medical 3 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board B oynton Beach, Florida September 2, 2015 Sciences Academy in the school because it completes the program. She learned how to put together a proposal and obtained the funds. They hired a teacher to help students receive their certification. They have an Information Technology (IT) Academy and students can obtain up to eight certifications in that field. Boynton Beach High School has a performing arts program and holds auditions in January. Since the students were not familiar with auditioning, they went to the middle schools and had mock auditions to prepare students to audition at the high school level. The Theater Academy just put on a show for elementary school students. They have a Piano Academy and many students eager to learn. There are two and three students to each piano and donations were needed. With other academies, Ms. Loehrig is the go to person. If holding an event, she coordinates it. The Culinary Arts program is state of the art and students cater to over 500 people. There are so many wonderful programs at the High School and she agreed it is Boynton's best kept secret. She thanked the Board for the opportunity to apprise them of the activities at the school. She passed out flyers which would be updated due to the addition of the Medical Science Academy. She appreciated the Board advocating for the students. Ms. Colebrooks suggested visiting churches in the Boynton Beach community and offered to assist her. Ms. Loehrig explained the School District's application process is earlier this year because Boynton Beach High School is an audition high school. Chair Waldman inquired if there were students at the high school that provide tutoring and learned there were. Ms. Loehrig explained students get tutoring jobs and perform community service hours. Annmarie Dilbert, Principal at Crosspointe Elementary School, explained she is the former Chair of the Boca Raton Education Advisory Board. She thanked the Board for what they do and commended the Board for their devotion to students and youth. Crosspointe Elementary School partnered with Poinciana Middle School and received a $15,000 grant for the Galvanizing STEM grant. She met Chair Waldman at one of the Boynton Reads meetings. Boca Raton was trying to do the same thing with Read for the Record. Her event was to partner with FAU for Read for the Record and take students from Boynton who probably do not have the transportation or funds to see a football game. Members of the team and community members would read to the students on the football field, but it fell apart because they could not afford buses. She thanked the Board and explained they were looking to make Crosspointe a medical academy to feed into Congress Middle School and keep students in Boynton Beach instead of applying to other choice programs. The goal was to work more closely with Mr. Barsh and his staff. Chair Waldman asked if there were any doctors to assist Ms. Dilbert with the program and she responded they have ground level doctors who teach. She noted Boynton Firefighters participate in Read for the Record and asked if anyone else from the City could come in and read. She thought the Boynton Beach High School Football Team could come in uniform to read. Chair Waldman suggested contacting Harvey Oyer who writes children's stories. 4 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board Boynton Bea lri September 24, 2015 Lori Wilkinson explained she is a teacher and knows how busy teachers are. She explained the Board sends out information to all the Boynton schools often and they advise about Sister Cities contests, their volunteer bank and more. They assume when they hear nothing it was because the information was tossed or not seen. She requested they be on the lookout for information from the Board and usually the information is hand delivered. Several of the Board members also sit on several committees. The goal of the Board was to give the best service they can to the students and give them the greatest opportunity to expand their horizons. Ms. Trayo, from Freedom Shores, was acknowledged. Chair Waldman thought the interchange of ideas was great and thanked all for coming to the meeting and contributing. VIII. Public Audience None. IX. New Business X. Old Business A. Education Initiative This was not addressed. B. Boynton Reads Update Ms. Colebrooks read a letter from Nadia Stewart, teacher at Rolling Green Elementary School, who tried to carry the Boynton Reads program, but her family and job needed 110% of her attention and she cannot continue the program. The Education and Youth Advisory Board reaches out to the community and she hoped some of the members could incorporate the program into their plans to see what they can do to increase literacy. They were trying to include local schools in the initiative. Ms. Colebrooks explained the program was a literacy program developed by Laura Orlove which focused on Title 1 schools in Boynton Beach and they were also trying to address attendance and tardiness. They have several community business partners, one of whom is Subway. Boynton Firefighters reward students at a Pancake Breakfast for going to school on time for all nine weeks. Even missing 10 minutes a day adds up. There was a relationship with Barnes and Noble and that came from the Boynton Beach Reads program. It lay idle until Ms. Stewart took it up, but now it will go dormant. Chair Waldman thought the organization had to regroup. 5 Meeting Minutes Education and Youth Advisory Board B oynton Beach, Florida September 24, 2015 C. Shred- A -Thon (October 17, 10 am — 12 pm) Ms. Claude advised they were all set for the October 17 event. It is advertised from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, but members have to arrive by 9 a.m. The truck comes at 9:30 a.m. The rain date was November 14 Chair Waldman advised the Board holds a Tennis Carnival for 30 youth in conjunction with the Hunters Run Tennis Pros. Ms. Morera agreed to investigate dates with the Tennis Pro and noted the event is usually held in April. The event is essentially free. They have games and lessons and it is a good opportunity to try tennis. It is held in the morning, and the participants are grouped by age and ability. The event was started by the late Phyllis Stern, a former Board member who thought it was a great opportunity to partner with the community for youth. D. Youth Volunteer Bank/Bob Borovy Award Ms. Claude advised the Bob Borovy information will be available on the City's website by November 1S and they send information to the high schools. The only requirement for the Borovy Award is the student must live in Boynton Beach and be a graduating senior. The award is based on community service. Chair Waldman advised they were asked to change the January meeting date because it is the Mayor's State of the City address at Boynton Beach High School. The members were encouraged to attend. The Clerk's office was available on January 7 XI. Future Meeting Dates: October 22, 2015 December 3, 2015 January 7, 2016 XII. Adjournment Motion There being no further business to discuss, Lori Wilkinson moved to adjourn. Ms. Colebrooks seconded the motion that unanimously passed. The meeting was adjourned at 6:58 p.m. a 1 af Catherine Cherry Minutes Specialist 100815 6