Mount Pleasant Youth Council

MOUNT PLEASANT YOUTH COUNCIL Thursday, February 1, 2024 5:00 PM Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES 1. Call to Order Ms. Griffin called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Eli Barker, Rose Dillon, Layla Giddens, Evan Nussbaum, Rowan Rucker, Addison Utsey, Ainsley Scarlett and Jackson Naylor were all present. Mia Weis, Lane Yarbrough and Porter Yount were absent. 2. Public Comments [None] 3. Approval of the minutes from the December 7, 2023 meeting Ms. Griffin moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Ms. Utsey. All present voted in favor. 4. Continued discussion and approval of design and content for priority project for the session Ms. Howard stated that since the January meeting was canceled, she thought it would be beneficial to make up the meeting and suggested several dates. The consensus was to hold the special meeting on Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. Ms. Howard asked anyone interested in volunteering to assist with course attendance, set-up, and breakdown at the Sweetgrass Marathon on February 24 to please let her know. She said she would also be sending out an e-mail asking for shirt sizes in the next week. Ms. Griffin said Youth Council had been working on an idea for website application and a list of lists. Mr. McLawhorn stated Youth Council would need to put together a presentation for the Communications team as to what they would like and it would need to be approved. Ms. Howard stated they need to know what they want the website to look like and show some templates of other websites  they like and add them to the presentation so that Communications can help them build the website they want. Ms. Griffin said between this meeting and the next, the goal would be to make a list of ideas, and then spend the next two weeks putting together a presentation to be presented at the March meeting. A template would be needed, along with what content will be included and whether or not to have a Question and Answer section, and what that would look like. Ms. Utsey said she wondered what kind of questions people would be asking. Ms. Griffin said that might be something to add once we know the website is getting interest. She said we need to think about how to advertise the website, and a peer survey would need to be sent out to see what they would like to see on the website. Ms. Dillon asked at what point the survey would be sent out and Ms. Griffin responded the week of the twenty-second. Ms. Griffin asked if the approval was for this to be on the Council page, or would we be creating a separate website. Mr. McLawhorn said the approval is to put it on the Youth Council page. Ms. Howard said some questions she has are, what information are you trying to get out there, what are the different resources you want to provide, and how will you get volume on the page. She said she would like those questions answered in the presentation. Ms. Dillon asked if the intent was to reach all grades in high school and Ms. Griffin responded in the affirmative. 5. Update on quarterly service projects Ms. Griffin said her group’s project is coming up for the spring and they would have more of a presentation at the February 22nd meeting. She asked if anyone had any ideas for a spring project, stating there is the Sweetgrass Marathon, or a different organization can be chosen. Ms. Howard asked what Youth Council originally talked about for the spring project. Ms. Griffin said fall and winter were settled early, and the intent was to decide on the spring and summer projects later. Ms. Griffin said we could do a toiletry drive for Homeless Hope and have a packing party. Page 2 of 5 Ms. Dillon said Water Missions sets up projects for high schoolers. Ms. Howard said the spring project needs to be decided today or at the next meeting, so it can be completed by the end of March. Ms. Griffin said the spring group will discuss and bring back dates, and at the next meeting, the project can be decided on and the date will already be selected. Ms. Griffin said she, Mr. Barker, Mr. Yount and Ms. Giddens were the spring group members. She said she thought the summer group members consisted of Ms. Dillon and Mr. Rucker. Ms. Dillon said she would bring some suggestions at the next meeting for the summer project. Ms. Howard said a requirement for Youth Council is that each member must attend a Town Council meeting, which is the second Tuesday of each month, and she would prefer to do it as a group. Ms. Howard said when she sends the tee shirt form out, she will include the upcoming Town Council dates and have everyone vote. Mr. McLawhorn said regarding the priority project presentation, an app would take more time than Youth Council has available to construct and get running. Ms. Griffin said she thought the consensus was to have a web page within the Youth Council page, with no chat option. Mr. McLawhorn said he thought that was a little more attainable. Mr. Nussbaum said he is a little confused as to what the content will be on the webpage. Ms. Griffin said we are going to contact peers via survey to find out what topics they would like to see, and then maybe link in licensed therapists. Mr. Nussbaum asked if the form could be created this evening and Ms. Griffin responded in the affirmative. Mr. McLawhorn said if the survey identified topics that were most important to your peers and you went to the school psychiatrists or other professionals and told them what you are doing, they would more than willing to assist with or point you in the direction of resources. Page 3 of 5 Ms. Utsey said we could come up with questions this evening, and Ms. Griffin said she would make the form so it could be distributed to the schools on Monday, have the survey open for a month, and have the information available for the March meeting. Ms. Griffin asked if the survey should ask for topics or should there be examples from which to choose. Ms. Dillon said she thought four or less options would be best. Mr. McLawhorn said another issue with an open-ended question is there are going to be many different answers, and it will be difficult to group them. Ms. Griffin asked what options should be placed on the survey. Ms. Dillon said she thought school climate could be an option. Ms. Griffin agreed, adding stress, anxiety and depression. Ms. Utsey said she thought those are the main issues. Ms. Griffin said we could have four or five options, and then an “other” category. Mr. McLawhorn suggested social awkwardness and interaction as that is something that can be addressed, but depression is more of a medical issue. He said that he would look at environmental factors that Youth Council as a group along with peer groups can address versus the more clinical things. Ms. Dillon suggested relationships. Ms. Giddens said one of the questions could be do they feel like they have someone at school they can talk to, do they trust their teachers and do they know about the resources at their school. Mr. Naylor suggested education, athletics, or other activities. Ms. Dillon said organization and Ms. Griffin said grades could be included with that. Mr. McLawhorn suggested emotional awareness. Ms. Griffin said that could work with social interaction as well. Ms. Utsey suggested college issues. Page 4 of 5  Mr. McLawhorn said that could be categorized as adaptability to change, and that could be beneficial for all grades. He said the categories should be specific enough to attract people, but broad enough to cover multiple groups. Mr. Nussbaum asked if academic stress was covered, and Ms. Griffin said that it could be listed as academic stress with the example of balancing schoolwork. Ms. Howard suggested food insecurity. Ms. Griffin suggested peer pressure. Ms. Howard suggested financial, and Ms. Griffin said that could go under change and future. Mr. McLawhorn suggested asking what the preferred medium would be to let peers know about the website. Ms. Dillon asked if the survey would have them select all of the issues or narrow it to the top three. Ms. Griffin said we can do all of them and address the ones with the most responses. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:28 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Christine Barrett Clerk of Council February 1, 2024 Page 5 of 5