Youth Commission

1 MINUTES OF A MEETING OF A REGULARLY SCHEDULED 2 YOUTH COMMISSION MEETING 3 VILLAGE OF NORTHBROOK 4 COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS 5 October 15, 2014 6 “Lead, Serve, Shine” 7 8 Adult Commissioners Present (5) 9 Carla Slawson-Martens, Chairperson 10 Gary Moriello 11 Kay Ellen Stein 12 Kelli Christenson 13 Jodie Dinelli 14 15 Student Commissioners Present (5) 16 Grace Elisco, Student Chairperson 17 Danny Martens 18 Jessica Bresler 19 Bianca Osinski 20 Brandon Mankoff 21 22 Adult/Student Commissioners Absent (8) 23 David Whitlock 24 Ethan Kirschenbaum 25 Andy Han 26 Adam Wagner 27 Zainab Ahmed 28 Emily Schwandner 29 Shaina Hakimian 30 Lucia Bosacoma 31 32 Village Staff Present (2) 33 Jason Batalden, Youth Commission Staff Liaison 34 Gale Cerabona, Recorder 35 36 1. Call to Order 37 Chairperson Slawson-Martens elected commissioner, Grace Elisco, to be Student Chairperson. Student 38 Chairperson Elisco called the meeting to order in the Terrace Room of Village Hall, 1225 Cedar Lane, at 39 7:06 p.m. A quorum was present. 40 41 2. Welcome & Introduction of New Members 42 Members introduced themselves & offered their backgrounds & reasons why they joined the Youth 43 Commission. 44 45 46 47 3. Approval of Meeting Minutes  Page 2 Minutes of the October 15, 2014 Youth Commission Meeting 1 Commissioner Moriello moved, seconded by Commissioner Stein, to approve the minutes of the August 2 27, 2014, Youth Commission meeting. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 3 4 4. Hear from the Audience 5 There was no audience. 6 7 5. Review of Police/Fire Appreciation BBQ 8 a. Feedback/Suggestions 9 Comments included the event went well, & a great tour was given. 10 11 Chairperson Slawson-Martens provided background that this BBQ event began 10 years ago, 12 after 9/11, to honor Police & Fire staff. The event is usually tied in with an elementary 13 school. Questions are asked of the Police & Fire staff, & a jail tour is offered. 14 15 Suggestions for this event in the future are: 16  Provide nametags 17  Ensure that more students & Youth Commission members attend 18  Police & Fire staff to recognize the handwritten cards from students 19  Prepare ice-breaker questions 20 21 Ideas/comments are: 22  Liked the event this year 23  Don’t need all of the questions 24  Students could arrive earlier 25  Reach out to Sunset Foods for sponsorship 26  Broaden event; invite Sunset reps; invite community members 27  Reminder that commissioners need to attend two meetings & two events annually 28  Contact a local club with a similar mission….i.e. Interact 29  Need publicity; photo ops 30  Youth Commissioners need to be more involved with food donors & pick-ups 31  Assign a clean-up crew 32  Reminder to have a Student Chairperson at each event 33  Assign leadership roles at the May meeting 34  Place tables outside; have 3-ring binder including information and personalized 35 letters from students on tables; encourage thank-you notes from Police & Fire staff 36 to respective elementary students 37  Games haven’t been successful 38  Community participation; invite Civic staff 39 40 6. 2014/15 Upcoming Calendar of Events 41 a. Operation Santa Claus 42 Commissioner Moriello outlined the event (via his letter which was distributed) & gave its 43 history. He stated the intent is to give the gift of literacy to inner-City children. The target 44 audience is K-8th graders which total 600 children from Goethe Elementary School. 45  Page 3 Minutes of the October 15, 2014 Youth Commission Meeting 1 The budget is $25.00 per child. The Elks’ Club provides gifts to kindergarteners & 1st graders. 2 It is recommended that student Youth Commissioners involve local clubs (i.e. Key Club, etc.). 3 A sign-up sheet/wish list was distributed. 4 5 Chairperson Slawson-Martens reminded that student Youth Commissioners may also 6 participate by passing out gifts on Thursday, December 11th from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Goethe 7 Elementary. It was stated that all gift-givers receive a thank-you note from the recipients. 8 9 b. Lake Cook Terrace Holiday Visit 10 Student Chairperson Elisco explained this event to new members (noting the singing of 11 holiday carols, arts & crafts, etc.). Based on the desire to have a better impact for residents 12 as well as better timing for the event, the Commission is leaning toward not conducting this 13 event. 14 15 Commissioner D. Martens moved, seconded by Commissioner Christenson, to put the Lake 16 Cook Terrace Holiday Visit on a 1-year hiatus & revisit (a discussion on) this event next year. 17 A suggestion was made to visit the residents during an alternate time of year. Commissioner 18 D. Martens amended his motion to remove the Holiday Visit from the month of December & 19 replace it with a meeting whereby a Spring event will be hosted at Lake Cook Terrace. 20 Commissioner Christenson approved the amendment. On a voice vote, the motion 21 unanimously carried. 22 23 c. Quiz Bowl 24 Commissioner D. Martens explained this event to new members stating it is held on the 4th 25 Thursday of February & includes games, t-shirts, medals, & student/school participation. 26 Chairperson Slawson-Martens shared that each school has a different selection process. She 27 noted that a live simulcast has been suggested in the past. It is a competitive event but the 28 intention is to have fun. 29 30 Commissioner D. Martens described the mock version which is played in advance as a dress 31 rehearsal. Commissioner D. Martens volunteered to be Student Chairperson for this event. 32 33 It was stated that particulars can be discussed in the November meeting. 34 35 7. Review of Commission’s Mission & Events 36 This topic was discussed at the last meeting. 37 38 8. New Business 39 There is no new business. 40 41 9. Old Business 42 Discussion took place on how to recruit Youth Commission members via new avenues & events. It was 43 noted there is one adult vacancy. The challenge is that students graduate. 44 45 10. Student Hot Topics 46  Commissioner Elisco discussed the request from the NCDAA to participate in a Prom/Fashion 47 held at the YMCA. Commissioners Elisco & Hakimian participated in this event last year & will do  Page 4 Minutes of the October 15, 2014 Youth Commission Meeting 1 so again next year. It was noted that Cache, Red Door Spa, & Men’s Wearhouse are sponsors, & 2 there is a reception & entertainment. The event will be held on March 8, 2015. An application & 3 signed-agreement process will take place next year. 4 5  Chairperson Slawson-Martens stated that next year’s June Film Festival will be the 6th Annual. A 6 1969 Glenbrook North graduate, Gary Donatelli, was mentioned along with his film 23 Blast. 7 Gary is happy to assist with the Film Festival next year. 8 9  It was stated that Homecoming was fun, & Glenbrook North beat Niles North. 10 11 11. Next Meeting 12 The next Youth Commission meeting will be held on November 19, 2014. 13 14 Chairperson Slawson-Martens advised members that they will receive a letter regarding an upcoming 15 event where all Commissioners are honored. All are encouraged to attend. 16 17 Commissioner Osinski volunteered to chair the November meeting. 18 19 12. Adjournment 20 Commissioner Moriello moved, seconded by Commissioner Martens, to adjourn the meeting at 21 8:22 p.m. On a voice vote, the motion unanimously carried. 22 23 24 Respectfully submitted, 25 26 27 28 Gale Cerabona 29 Recorder