Sister Cities

Idaho Falls Sister City Youth Approved Meeting-Minutes This meeting was conducted using the platform 8 X 8 ​May 6, 2020 Attendees Nicholas Cebull Melinda Cebull Charlotte Combs Laura Combs Jackson Corbridge Jackie Sugai David Eaton Katie Eaton Kylie Eaton Abigail Gallegos Samantha Gohl Izabel Kelley Laura Kelley Sam Hawker Lori Kidwell Charlie Medema Mike Medema Max Medema Heather Medema Gabe Padron Jorge Padron Nathan Peck Kendra Peck McKenzie McIsaac Ed McIsaac Anna St. Michel Whitney St. Michel Carter Thompson Jen Thompson Rebecca Smith Stephanie Tim Thompson VanAusdeln Approval of minutes ​Rebecca Smith motioned to approve the April 13, 2020 meeting minutes. It was seconded by Whitney St. Michel. No objections. ​Student Exchange to Japan ​Manabu and Yuki from the ​Tokai-Mura Board ​emailed Whitney St. Michel that the both adult and youth exchanges will be put off for a year which means that the Idaho Falls youth will be traveling in July 2021. ​Idaho Falls Sister City Youth Board agreed to invite in January the same fifteen students who were invited to the exchange of summer 2020. There is a provision in the bylaws which speaks directly to ‘unusual circumstances’. The IFSCY Board will be discussing the following bylaws for the exchange for next year. To receive an invitation, students must meet the following participation criteria: 1. Must have attended at least 50% of the meetings and activities of the Idaho Falls Sister Cities Youth Program in the 16-month period prior to the invitations being sent (September 1 of even-numbered year to December 31 of the odd numbered year (just prior to the invitations being issued). Students who join after September 1 of even-numbered years will have this requirement evaluated based upon the time period from their date of membership to December 31 of the odd-numbered year. 2. Must be a student in good standing with the Idaho Falls Sister Cities Youth Program and in compliance with the Code of Conduct.  3. The student and their family must have participated in the hosting of the delegation from Tokai-Mura during the previous odd-numbered year. Students who join after the exchange visit by the students from Tokai-Mura in odd-numbered years will not be eligible to participate in the exchange visit to Tokai-Mura the next summer. Note 1. Students who are not in a position to attend meetings or activities for an extended period of time (i.e., greater than 30 days) due to an extended illness, being absent from the local area, or other unusual circumstance may petition the board to have this requirement waived for the period of time they are unable to attend meetings and activities. Board approval requires a 2⁄3 majority. That includes meeting attendance. The date of the exchange will be decided next year. ​Manabu and Yuki from the ​Tokai-Mura Board will keep in contact with Whitney and ​email her when the exchange is scheduled. Idaho Falls Sister City Youth Board agreed that students who attended video meetings held in March, April, and May of 2020 will get credit for attending; however, the meetings that took place during these months (March, April, and May) will not count towards the 50% participation rule. Whitney St. Michel received the refund for the deposit made to Delta for the group tickets. Lori Kidwell will deposit the check into the account and will be sending a refund check to those who made the $100.00 deposit. For Your Information Idaho Falls Public Library is not allowing group meetings at this time. When this policy changes David will inform the group. David Eaton will contact Judy Seydel to schedule a date for our group to help clean up in the Friendship Garden. He will let us know by the next meeting which is May 18. Reminder The next meeting is on May 18, 2020 at 7:00. Everyone will be notified by David Eaton through email for the link to ‘8X8’. Please put the May18th meeting on your calendar as well as the June meetings scheduled on June 3rd and 15th. Videos ​Carter Thompson put together a video of activities that show what Idaho Falls Youth members are doing during the self-isolation time during the coronavirus pandemic. David also showed the video sent from Tokai-Mura students on how each of them were spending their self-isolation time during the coronavirus pandemic. David Eaton suggested we continue this activity. Lori Kidwell asked if we could take pictures of each of our favorite sights in and around the Idaho Falls area. David will set up the site for each of us to post to. He will let us know where to post the videos and/or pictures. If any student is interested in creating the videos to Tokai-Mura please let David Eaton know. Fundraisers ​Cherry Blossom Festival Raffle Whitney St. Michel is experimenting with the software for buyers to purchase raffle tickets for the Cherry Blossom Festival. She asked the group if gift cards should be auctioned off individually or in a basket (place several gift cards in a basket) The group decided on baskets. Whitney will email everyone when she has pictures/contents of each basket. The group agreed to the date of the raffle drawing approximately 30 days after Whitney emails each of us with the pictures/contents of each basket. Jennifer Thompson looked at options of picking winners from the list of raffle ticket buyers for each specific basket. She suggested that when an individual purchases a ticket for a specific basket their name is placed on a list and the software would generate a winner for each basket from the list of raffle ticket buyers for that basket. Thank you notes will be sent out shortly after Whitney St. Michel sends out the email with the pictures of each basket. Reach out to all your friends and family members near and far and tell them about the IFSCY raffle that will be happening soon. ​ Student Activity ​Maggie Boring will be teaching the lesson at the May 18th meeting. Anna St. Michel will teach at the June 3rd meeting. Meeting Adjourned Stephanie VanAusdeln motioned to adjourn the meeting. It was seconded by Lori Kidwell.