Mount Pleasant Youth Council

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNT PLEASANT YOUTH COUNCIL Thursday, January 6, 2022 5:00 PM Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Ms. Turner called to order the Youth Council meeting at 5:00 p.m. Graci Canon, Adam El Hassan, Garrett Griffin, Grace Griffin, Willa Jones, Geneva Kowbeidu, McClain Stoklosa, Caroline Tiller, Isabelle Turner, Chad Weis and McKenna Young were all present. 1. Public Comments There were no public comments. 2. Approval of the minutes from the December 9, 2021 meeting Ms. Turner moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Mr. El Hassan. All present voted in favor. 3. Continued discussion regarding fundraising opportunities for the basketball courts Mr. El Hassan stated they had a meeting with David Seay and discussed fundraising possibilities. Some suggested possibilities that came out of the meeting were holding a three on three tournament or six on six; the schools playing each other with two big games, ticket sales and halftime activities; a March Madness bracket; and a basketball clinic. Mr. El Hassan stated he thought it would be best to hold multiple fundraising activities. Ms. Turner said Mr. Seay suggested when taking on any of these to try and find as many ways to fundraise as possible, for instance selling concessions at a tournament and charging admission. Ms. Turner asked for thoughts on how to proceed. Ms. Young asked what the three options are, and Ms. Turner stated tournaments where either schools or neighborhoods play each other, secondly a March Madness bracket, and the third was a basketball clinic. Ms. Young stated she liked all three ideas. Ms. Canon stated she likes the ideas of the schools playing each other as she thought a lot of students, teachers, and parents would like to attend and money could be raised with concessions. She said she thought it would be good to plan two activities. Ms. Kowbiedu stated she thought multiple activities would be best, but if that is not possible, she thought having the Oceanside versus Wando game would be great and suggested inviting the cheerleaders. Ms. Turner said the good thing about the March Madness bracket is it is all on-line. Ms. Canon said those could be the top two choices. Mr. El Hassan said if we choose to go with an Oceanside versus Wando type game, we need to be careful how to advertise it and we need to make it a town activity. Mr. Stoklosa said that is the concern with the high schools playing each other, that it would be limiting the event to a certain number of students and it should be open to anyone signing up with different age groups. Ms. Turner said Mr. Seay suggested doing a poll or sending out a survey to friends to gauge interest. It could be done on Instagram and the basketball teams could be tagged. She said she worried about limiting participants to just schools. Mr. El Hassan said if we do it right, we could get a packed gym. He said perhaps there could be one big game, then a bunch of smaller tournament games. Ms. Canon asked where the tournament would be held, with how many teams and would there be certain age groups. Ms. Turner said it would be held at one of the Recreation facilities, and it would be teens, and youth ages. Mr. Weis said he thought high school age would be best. Mr. El Hassan said there could be four courts running at once if they were half-court games. He said to keep in mind the need for referees and people to run the clock, but they could be youth participants. Ms. Sims said they are not full games, perhaps 7 minutes each, and whoever reached a certain number of points, or whoever has the most points at the end of the time limit would win. Ms. Turner said she is worried about limiting it to the student bodies among the schools. She asked about setting age groups for the three versus three games, and open it up to anyone, and then at the end hold a playoff with the respective schools. Ms. Canon asked they will be co-ed teams. Mr. Stoklosa said it could be co-ed. Mr. El Hassan said he is concerned about having a group of three 18-year-olds playing a team of 13-year-olds, and that would not be fair. He suggested limiting it to high school aged participants. Ms. Sims said we need to be realistic about timeframe and what can be accomplished. She said everyone will need to participate in planning and executing these events. She said if a basketball tournament can be successfully carried out, then it may be possible to hold a pickleball tournament. Mr. El Hassan said he thought that would be a good idea, and he thinks a lot of people would participate. He said it would be easy to hold a doubles tournament and run two courts all day with different age brackets. Ms. Sims asked if the consensus was to proceed with the March Madness bracket, and everyone agreed. Mr. Stoklosa asked if a prize could be given away. Ms. Turner said businesses could be utilized for donations to create a basket for the winner. Ms. Sims said she would look into the bracket, and for the basketball tournament a date would need to be decided, cost to participate and structure. Ms. Turner said Mr. Seay told them a tournament was held locally recently and the cost was $10 per person/$30 per team. Ms. Sims asked what the Youth Council Members would pay if they were to participate. Mr. Stoklosa said he has seen them at $15 per person and Ms. Turner said that would be the maximum. After further discussion, it was decided that the cost of participation would be $15 per person, with a potential of awarding restaurant gift cards to the winners. Ms. Turner asked if there is a way to involve Ms. Debbie Antonelli with the tournament. Ms. Sims said they could possibly have her involved at halftime, or perhaps hand out the awards at the end of the tournament. She said she liked the idea about keeping people involved throughout the day. Mr. Stoklosa said if we choose to make the tournament three on three, then it would be easier to do multiple age groups. If it is limited to high school then five on five is easier. Ms. Young asked if the tournament is limited to high school, then would the clinic be geared toward younger players. Mr. El Hassan said the clinic would be open to everyone. Mr. El Hassan said five on five would be easier and the games could be completed quicker, but if they choose to have a three on three tournament, it would take multiple days. Ms. Turner said Wandos last home game is February 4 and asked if anyone had any post-season timelines. Mr. El Hassan said he thought the playoff games are two to three weeks into February and Mr. Stoklosa suggested waiting until the end of February or early March. Ms. Sims asked the members if they wanted to limit to high school participants, and the consensus was yes. Ms. Griffin said a lot of the girls that play basketball are going to late tryouts for soccer, so soccer games will be starting around the time we are thinking of holding the tournament. Mr. Griffin said if the tournament is on the weekend, that should not conflict with soccer. Ms. Sims said she would look at the availability of facilities, and there may need to call a special meeting to continue planning these events. Ms. Turner said SATs are on March 5. She asked Ms. Sims if she wanted the members to poll students to gauge participation and Ms. Sims said that was a good idea. Mr. Stoklosa said he contacted Lowes Foods, Bubbles Gift Shoppe, Charleston Dance, Rockbox Fitness and Rivertowne Public House. He said Rockbox and Bubbles said they would get back to him, and Lowes said as of now they cannot, but to contact them later, but they do have a Club Cash program where they would sell gift cards to an organization at a discount and they can be sold for full price. Mr. Stoklosa said he would get some more information on that program. Mr. El Hassan said if we have the March Madness bracket figured out by the time the tournament takes place, then we can have people buy in to the bracket while at the tournament. Ms. Tiller asked if they could get a list of Recreation Department sponsors so they are not contacted by Youth Council, and Ms. Sims said she would try to get the list. Ms. Turner said for clarification that the plan is to hold some sort of tournament, the March Madness bracket, and asked if the third fundraiser is a clinic. Mr. El Hassan said we need to decide if we want to hold a pickleball tournament or a basketball clinic.  The consensus was to hold a pickleball tournament. Ms. Sims said she has a flier that can be posted, and Ms. Turner asked if she could e-mail it so the members can print them out and hang them, as well as submit to the schools for printing in their newsletters. Mr. Weis asked if there were any more donations received, and Ms. Sims said the total is $235 to date. 4. Update regarding community service projects Ms. Sims said she is waiting to hear from the Recreation Department what the specific role of the Youth Council would be at the Sweetgrass Half Marathon and said if anyone had any specific area they would like to be assigned to, please let her know. In response to a question about the different roles, Ms. Turner said they directed runners, cheered them on and handed out medals. Ms. Sims said they may have vendors this year, so they may need volunteers at the water and food stations. Ms. Sims asked Ms. Griffin for an update on the toiletries collection. Ms. Griffin said she has fliers that can be distributed at the schools after they register the name of their organization which should be completed tomorrow. Ms. Sims asked Ms. Griffin to e-mail her the flier so she can distribute it when it is appropriate to do so. She also asked for the spring break dates for each of the schools so they can have a representative in charge of collection bins for each school. Ms. Griffin said after the toiletries are collected, they are going to form packing parties, which can be counted as service hours. Ms. Sims said that would be the final service project for the year. 5. Discussion and possible action regarding a letter in support of mental health resources Ms. Sims said for the 2019/2020 general assembly session Bill 761 was filed by Senator Marjorie Bright Mathews of District 45. She said it went before the Education Committee and died before the end of session as it did not meet the crossover deadline and has not been refiled. Ms. Sims reviewed the bill and said Ms. Turner had drafted the following letter: “We are writing to you today as the Youth Town Council of Mount Pleasant, a group of young adults who strive to connect the youth of Mount Pleasant to the adults in our local government. One of our priority projects for this session is to prioritize and advocate for the mental health awareness and support of youth within our community. We want to implore you to refile and reconsider Bill 761 that you had originally filed in the 123rd Assembly to require mental health counselors allocated for students within a school district. While this is a great start to this pressing issue, we urge you to take additional steps towards mental health. One of the steps we have proposed is to require a mental health counselor in all schools. As all youth have been impacted by the pandemic, we have seen the importance of mental health support as teenagers navigate these tough times. Yet, there seems to be a clear disconnect between public schools and mental health support for students. While there are guidance counselors available who support and help the student body, the stressful world of college applications takes up most of their time and they do not have the necessary time and resources to support mental health concerns within their schools. Some of the members on the Youth Town Council who attend private or charter schools have a specific mental health counselor for the school. These council members have seen a direct impact that the mental health counselors have for their schools and the mental health of the student body. We have asked our community to join us in this mental health initiative to take steps forward in changing the mental health of teens. Various Officials, such as Principals, Government Officials, and Non Profit Organizations have all agreed to support this initiative and are eager to witness the next steps towards this. We hope that you will consider our perspective on this bill and reconsider it as part of support to students during this difficult time. Thank you.” [Mr. Griffin left at 5:42 p.m.] Ms. Sims said there has been funding made available for mental health services in schools, but there have not been any applications to date. She said the letter should be sent to the Mount Pleasant Legislative Delegation as well as the originating Senator. Ms. Turner said she liked the approach of sending support for refiling this bill as a start, and we would love to see more. Town Council Member John Iacofano said he had a discussion today with a principal and the number one discussion that he is having when meeting the principals is mental health. He said that issue is coming up everywhere. He said the cost is $25,000 per day of the week to have a mental health counselor in the school. He said some have a mental health counselor on Monday. He said to have a counselor every day of the week would cost $125,000 per week. He said he heard there is a $5M grant for five years for the entire Charleston County School District, which will not cover the cost for each school, but that is what he found out so far. Mr. Iacofano said he planned to be at the Youth Council meetings every month and wanted them to share things with him so that when he goes out to the schools, it makes his job have purpose. Mr. Iacofano said he would send the information on the grant to Ms. Sims so she could pass it along. He said this is a start and there is recognition of a need. Ms. Sims said Ms. Turner can work on the letter some more, and it can be brought back next month for approval. She also asked if they thought the heads of the school mental health clubs would be interested in co-signing the letter. Mr. El Hassan asked if having the school mental health coordinator sign the letter would be appropriate and Ms. Sims responded in the affirmative - whoever has the decision-making authority.  Ms. Kowbeidu suggested drafting a letter to in addition to this with different language to bring attention to mental health to get more traction at the Federal and State level. 6. General discussion regarding other priority projects Ms. Sims read a thank you letter from East Cooper Meals on Wheels for providing them with over 300 cards to be delivered with their meals. She said they were overwhelmed with the support received and had sent a letter of appreciation. Ms. Sims said she would e-mail it to everyone. She also asked if anyone had any items they would like to see on the next agenda to please send them to Ms. Turner. 7. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:54 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Christine Barrett Clerk of Council January 6, 2022