Salem Youth Commission

CITY OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS Kimberley Driscoll Mayor Salem Youth Commission Meeting Minutes February 27, 2017 Attendance: Aiyana Lilly, Collin McLean, Michael Quigley, Jared Lubas, Laura Assade, Ruby Cheresnowsky, Nick Angeramo, Jorge Gomez Frometa, Guest speaker Beth Alaimo Meeting Called to Order The meeting called to order at 6:03pm Introductions & Public Comments: Youth Commission Member Ruby shared with the group information about her service learning project “school-to-prison pipeline” which was featured on NBC. Previous Meeting Minutes: Nick made a motion to accept January meeting minutes, Collin second the motion. Motion passed and minutes were approved. Guest Speaker Beth Alaimo – North Shore CDC: Beth came in as a guest speaker today to get the youth commissioners input on the community center that is under construction at the CDC’s congress street site. A brief survey was conducted and Commissioners were able to provide feedback. Post-Election Community Needs Project: Youth commissioners were updated on sanctuary cities ordinance, where it stands and the different forums that have occurred since it was presented before city council. Also, discussed further, details about the Nellie Mae education foundation grant that Salem public schools applied for and how the Salem Youth Commission can be involved. The grant would give the youth an opportunity to be trained by an organization like Facing History & Ourselves who could train the them on facilitating conversations with their peers about immigration related matters and help get them to facilitate forums and group style conversations. Ruby took the time to talk about her Salem City Hall – 93 Washington Street – Salem, MA 01970-3592 Ph. 978-745-9595 Fax 978-744-9327 experience on the meeting she attended at the H7G on the sanctuary city discussion. She mentioned she was concerned there were not a lot of youth that were represented and she would like for the SYC to become more informed. Lastly the commissioners had further questions on the sanctuary cities matter and the group went in to a discussion which included questions, concerns and future opportunities to receive more information. All were invited to attend the March 30th Meeting at Salem High School auditorium. Student Government Day: Youth commissioners went over a timeline of items that would need to be complete before the start of Student Government Day. We reviewed and finalized letter that will go out to potential adult participants, approved the SGD Flyer and decided to have a student submit application if they wanted to participate in SGD. The day of activities will be held on Thursday, April 13th, 2017 with a full schedule which include two hours of shadow from a professional of their choice, lunch and have a 90-minute mock trial. Deadline to receive all the application is set for March 31st 2017 City Council Meetings: Youth Commission Chair, Nick Angeramo again mentioned to all commissioners that we should start thinking about attend council meetings which are held the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. It was suggested that a list of all the remaining meetings go out in list form which will allow commissioners to sign up for at least one meeting and attend for an hour. Other suggestions were made to have it be mandatory for SYC members to attend and bring back feedback to the meeting. Members will be required to get a form signed to get credit for attending the meetings. For next Meeting: Need to add to the agenda SYC T-shirts- Jared Volunteered to come up with draft design Announcements: -New meeting for First Books Program to be held March13th at the STU Building - Volunteer Opportunity: Youth Get to the Point Day in April with North Shore CDC Next Meeting: March 20, 2017 120 Washington 3rd Floor conference room Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 8:07 PM Salem City Hall – 93 Washington Street – Salem, MA 01970-3592 Ph. 978-745-9595 Fax 978-744-9327