Youth Commission

1 2 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF A REGULARLY SCHEDULED 3 YOUTH COMMISSION MEETING 4 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 5 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 6 August 19, 2015 7 “Lead, Serve, Shine” 8 9 Adult Commissioners Present (6) 10 Carla Slawson-Martens, Chairperson 11 Gary Moriello 12 David Whitlock 13 Kay Ellen Stein 14 Kelli Christenson 15 Jodie Dinelli 16 17 Student Commissioners Present (6) 18 Grace Elisco 19 Lucia Bosacoma 20 Danny Martens 21 Ethan Kirschenbaum 22 Bianca Osinski 23 Brandon Mankoff 24 25 Audience Members Present (3) 26 Zachary Pick 27 Danny Brodson 28 Marco Bosacoma 29 30 Adult/Student Commissioners Absent (3) 31 Jessica Bresler 32 Zainab Ahmed 33 Shaina Hakimian 34 35 Village Staff Present (2) 36 Jason Batalden, Youth Commission Staff Liaison 37 Gale Cerabona, Recorder 38 39 1. Call to Order 40 Chairperson Slawson-Martens called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall, 1225 41 Cedar Lane, at 7:05 p.m. A quorum was present. 42 43 2. Welcome 44 Chairperson Slawson-Martens welcomed Commissioners and guests. Everyone introduced themselves, 45 offered their backgrounds, and advised when/why they began their commitment to the YC. 46 47 48 3. Approval of Meeting Minutes  Page 2 Minutes of the August 19, 2015 Youth Commission Meeting 1 a. March 18, 2015 2 b. May 20, 2015 3 Commissioner D. Martens moved, seconded by Commissioner Stein, to approve the YC 4 meeting minutes of March 18, 2015. Commissioner D. Martens amended the motion to 5 include the approval of the May 20, 2015, YC meeting minutes. Commissioner Stein 6 accepted the amendment. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 7 8 Commissioners Christenson & Bosacoma arrived at 7:13 p.m. 9 10 4. Hear from the Audience 11 There was no Hear from the Audience. 12 13 5. 2014/15 Upcoming Calendar of Events 14 a. Police/Fire Appreciation Event 15 Chairperson Slawson-Martens distributed the Annual Report of the Youth Commission and 16 offered a history of the Police/Fire Appreciation Event and its relevance. Commissioner Stein 17 reminded everyone where the event is located, the donors involved, etc. Adult and Student 18 Commissioners, who attended this event in the past, shared their experiences. 19 20 Commissioner Dinelli suggested assigning a Student Commissioner to lead a clean-up crew. 21 22 Chairperson Slawson-Martens advised this event has been happening for 10 years. She 23 recommended reaching out (and explained the process) to elementary schools so that 24 students may write letters to the Police/Fire Staff. She noted personalized letters are an 25 option as well. 26 27 Commissioner Whitlock suggested (if food is plentiful) that Commissioners bring a friend; 28 Chairperson Slawson-Martens agreed and recommended bringing siblings. 29 30 Chairperson Slawson-Martens reminded there are jail tours, police car tours, etc. 31 32 Discussion ensued to secure a day/date for this year as the event originated because of 33 9/11. Commissioner Dinelli suggested providing the Fire Chief with two dates. 34 35 Commissioner Dinelli moved, seconded by Commissioner Whitlock, to propose, to the 36 Police/Fire Chiefs, the dates of Sunday, September 20, 2015 as a first choice and Thursday, 37 September 17, 2015, as a second choice from 4:30 p.m.-7 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion 38 unanimously carried. Liaison Batalden stated he will propose these dates and obtain 39 responses. 40 41 Chairperson Slawson-Martens recruited the following students who volunteered to: 42  Lead a Clean-Up Crew Commissioners D. Martens & Kirschenbaum 43  Contact Junior High Schools Audience Members Pick & Brodson 44 45 46 47 6. Old Business  Page 3 Minutes of the August 19, 2015 Youth Commission Meeting 1 a. Film Festival 2 Chairperson Slawson-Martens reminded the last event was the 6th Annual. Commissioner 3 Whitlock provided background on the event. Chairperson Slawson-Martens noted the 4 partnerships with producers, etc. Everyone complimented and applauded Commissioner 5 Whitlock for his efforts with this event. 6 7 b. Adult YC Commissioner 8 Commissioner Moriello reminded everyone that the YC is still in need of an Adult 9 Commissioner. Commissioner Whitlock suggested extending membership opportunities to 10 other schools in Northbrook. 11 12 7. New Business 13 Chairperson Slawson-Martens advised Commissioners that she met with Village President Sandy Frum. 14 She reminded that Board Trustee, Bob Israel, is the YC’s Liaison (to the Village Board). 15 16 Chairperson Slawson-Martens shared that President Frum asked that Commissioners reflect on the 17 mission, vision, etc. of the YC. She explained that originally the YC was a bridge between GBN and the 18 Village Hall. As this role changed, the YC became more events-driven. A concern is that the YC may 19 duplicate efforts of volunteering opportunities in the community. For the future, the YC is asked to 20 consider other models. Various models were shared i.e. having a student liaison on every Commission, 21 incorporating an educational component (civic knowledge, government awareness), etc. 22 23 Chairperson Slawson-Martens noted, consequently, current events may move to other Commissions i.e. 24 Film Festival may be passed onto the Arts Commission and the Police/Fire Appreciation Event may be 25 passed onto the Community Relations Commission. 26 27 Chairperson Slawson-Martens advised that President Frum will attend the YC’s September meeting, and 28 she is requesting a report from the YC by December, 2015, and an action plan by May, 2016. 29 30 Chairperson Slawson-Martens asked that Commissioners think about what they like and don’t like about 31 the YC. Suggestions from the group are: 32  Explore other community (Village/City) meetings 33  Establish a Subcommitee to expound on this topic 34  Secure a professional moderator (to walk the YC through the process and draw ideas/concepts) 35  Offer workshops, classes (with Professors) 36  Assess the community (Youth & Adults) 37  Establish a connection to the leaders of our community 38  Education of leadership roles (job shadowing) 39 40 Commissioners shared strengths of the YC: 41  Quiz Bowl 42  Retain activities in the community to attract and network with students 43 44 45  Page 4 Minutes of the August 19, 2015 Youth Commission Meeting 1 Chairperson Slawson-Martens stated that President Frum is interested to know if the YC will retain its 2 events and if so, rationale should be provided. 3 4 Commissioner Bosacoma raised the issue of coordinating the mission statement with the new model for 5 the YC. Chairperson Slawson-Martens concurred and read the current mission statement. She 6 suggested, in the next few months, everyone listen and ask questions to President Frum, explore other 7 communities, etc. Chairperson Slawson-Martens also recommended developing leadership for youth by 8 partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and its business members. 9 10 Audience Member, Zachary Pick, suggesting querying the public on what they may be interested in 11 (obtain input to help form the YC’s mission) which would also educate the public. 12 13 Chairperson Slawson-Martens reminded that each of the YC’s events have a target audience. 14 15 Commissioner Moriello recalled the various entities who provide leadership to students. He suggested 16 securing guest speakers; Chairperson Slawson-Martens agreed and recommended a lecture circuit. 17 Commissioner Kirschenbaum suggested the speakers be concise and address the group, perhaps, bi- 18 monthly. Paid leaders vs. volunteer leaders were referenced. 19 20 Commissioner D. Martens suggested performing test runs of some of these ideas. 21 22 Commissioner Bosacoma stated it should be decided if the YC is serving the Youth Commissioners on the 23 YC or the youth at large in Northbrook. Chairperson Slawson-Martens concurred and enlisted input from 24 Commissioners. Comments included: 25  Serving more students to make an impact 26  Offering an education component; the more that’s in it for YC students, the more potential 27 Youth Commissioners the YC would attract 28  Concentration on youth members of the YC 29  Invite Dr. Tarjan, Director of Student Services at GBN, to a YC meeting 30  Encouraging a Club (at GBN) to network with the YC 31  Solving problems (addiction, bullying, etc.) in the community 32  Developing Youth Commissioners; engage them in something meaningful 33 34 Chairperson Slawson-Martens recapped that the YC should determine: 35  who should be served 36  its mission/purpose 37  a new model/method 38 39 Commissioner Kirschenbaum shared that (his) commitments/volunteering opportunities in the 40 community provide impact. 41 42 Chairperson Slawson-Martens reiterated that President Frum doesn’t view the YC as being events- 43 driven. Based on this evening’s consensus, she concluded that the YC should target Youth 44 Commissioners and add a government component. 45  Page 5 Minutes of the August 19, 2015 Youth Commission Meeting 1 Audience Member, Danny Brodson, suggested students liaise on Village Commissions; have the YC pilot 2 that endeavor. 3 4 8. Next Meeting 5 The next meeting will be September 19, 2015. The agenda will focus on an exchange between President 6 Frum and the YC. 7 8 It was asked if the YC should continue the Police/Fire Appreciation event this year. Commissioner Dinelli 9 commented that since the Police Chief is very active, the event should take place. Commissioner 10 Whitlock concurred. Food and pick-ups were briefly discussed. 11 12 9. Adjournment 13 Commissioner Elisco moved, seconded by Commissioner Whitlock, to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m. 14 On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 15 16 Respectfully submitted, 17 18 19 20 Gale Cerabona 21 Recorder 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35