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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-08-28.pdfPage 1 of 7 Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission Wednesday August 28, 2013 Members Present: Vicki Wilkins (Chairwoman), Steve Meyer, Tracy Kurtz, Stephanie Mulinos, Sharon Todd, JoEllen Bailey, Jeff Humphrey (absent) Town Recreation Director: Melissa Bianconi Town Board Liaisons: Linda Levine and Steve Stelick, Jr. DCDS Liaison: position open County Youth Services Representative: Kris Bennett Guests: none 1. Reading of the Commission Meeting Minutes: S. Meyer moved to approve the minutes from the July 17, 2013 meeting. The motion was seconded by S. Todd and unanimously approved. 2. Introduction of Guests: none present 3. Additions/ alterations to agenda: No report from Dryden OURS program. End of program was last month. 4. Report from the Town Board Liaison: not present 5. Dryden Youth Report - Dave Hall Attached 6. Dryden OURS report: 7. Community Grant Reports: Attached Jeff Humphrey - Dryden Youth Fire Academy Melissa Bianconi - Village of Dryden Camp Employee Kris Bennett - Freeville Summer Recreation Youth Employment A discussion ensued regarding the Dryden Lake Festival. The Kid Zone was wonderful, again. All the reports were positive. 8. Youth Development Funding Request review Talk about having a single fund for Youth Employment to which they all apply instead of separate funds. 9. Letter to the DCDS response from Sandy Sherwood The group discussed the letter that Ms. Sherwood sent to the DRYC. They were disappointed with her response for a couple reasons including the fact that she failed to address most of the issues described in the letter to the Board and placed most of her focus on a single group that has had problems using the facilities in the past. K. Bennett stated that it appears that there is a communication issue between the School Grounds Keeper and the superintendant and/or Board. S. Meyer pointed out that the grounds keeper is a new person and might not be aware of all the problems in the past. M. Bianconi said she feels as though the tone of the letter indicates that these issues had never been brought to Ms. Sherwood’s attention but M. Bianconi has files of Page 2 of 7 communication with the school about these issues. S. Mulinos feels as though the letter is dismissive toward the DRYC and shows a disinterest in improving relations. K. Bennett pointed out that now the school is aware of the issues, it is in the Board Minutes. S. Mulinos recommended that the Recreation Department keep a record of conversations that they have with the school. M. Bianconi said they are already doing that, including how much money they have paid for facility use and she had given J. Humphrey that information before he wrote the letter. The letter was directed at the Board and Administrative level. The school staff has been helpful but they have to follow the rules set down and sometimes the staff doesn’t even realize that the Town is paying for use of the facilities. M. Bianconi asked if the Commission wanted to respond to Ms. Sherwood’s letter but they didn’t feel it would accomplish anything. K. Bennett recommended sending a letter sometime in December letting the school know whether things are better or the same The Board is interested in having Rob Mederios (facilities maintenance) and Dave Lott from the School attend the October DRYC meeting. Both men appear to be interested in improving the relationship between the school and the Recreation Department. Mr. Lott is the scheduler and he has to deal with several different organizations that all want to use the facilities. M. Bianconi said it is policy makers, the people that have the power to say the building is open or not, that are the problem. One of the members of the Commission said that she could not find out if the building was going to be open over the weekend. No one seems to know….At the first football practice, the grass had not been mowed. M. Bianconi and A. Pierce had been to the school to ask for use of the field at least two weeks earlier. The Commission feels that the Dryden School has a serious lack of communication. Youth Development Funding: Two things that are new and different are: Proposed expansion to the OURS program. Right now Nicki Nease works half time. The proposal is to bump her up to ¾ time which will add a day more programming for the OURS kids. Youth Employment programs funded with Town money into one place and having all of the employment places apply to the Dryden Youth Employment site. There would be a 10 hour/week person at Cooperative Extension whose job it will be to find these jobs, and to build relationships for jobs with not-for-profit and municipal organizations. K. Bennett proposed that person be Nicki Nease so she is full-time, Cooperative Extension will pay her benefits. County money is unsure, Cooperative Extension won’t know until sometime in November. The funds from the State are unknown so K. Bennett has cut the expected amount by 10%. The Town is the biggest provider of funds for these programs. M. Bianconi has indicated that she might be able to come up with more money for Youth Employment by moving funds from lines that don’t need as much money any more. S. Todd asked about whether committing most of the available money to Cooperative Extension is the best way to go. The Committee agreed that it was the best way since they are concerned with quality rather than quantity. The needs assessment has identified youth employment as an area that can be improved. S. Mulinos was concerned about the DRYC future ability to maintain the employment program. M. Bianconi pointed out that a lot of money over the past Page 3 of 7 several years has been on programs that are set - they have all the things they need at this point so she feels moving money from other areas in the budget to Youth Employment will work. S. Mulinos offered the following resolution: Whereas, the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission has conducted a Youth Needs Assessment; and Whereas, said assessment has indicated a need for increased youth employment programs; and Whereas, the Dryden Recreation department and the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission are charged with providing opportunities for youth development; Therefore, be it resolved that the Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission supports the Recreation Department’s proposed 2014 budget, which increases monetary support for youth employment, O.U.R.S program support and other programs that have been identified as priority areas for young people in the Town of Dryden. The resolution was seconded by T. Kurtz and passed with unanimous support. There being no further business, J. Bailey motioned to adjourn at 8:45 PM. The motion was seconded by S. Mulinos and the meeting adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Erin A. Bieber Deputy Town Clerk Page 4 of 7 Dryden Youth Report August 28th, 2013 David Hall Finished 1. Outdoor Cooking A. Participants: 15 B. Outdoor Cooking gives participants the chance to learn new skills, try new things, eat food and make new friends. It is my goal to get each student to try something they have never tried before whether that is making a campfire for the first time, try a new food or catching a crayfish. Highlights for outdoor cooking included cooking several delicacies in the traditional Dutch oven, including a chocolate birthday cake and breakfast fit for Paul Bunyon. Our final project involved preparing the many aspects for a successful steam pit. There were many jobs to do, including the creation of grass mats, gathering firewood and proper rocks and digging a new pit. Our group was rewarded with a wonderful meal of steamed potatoes, corn and buffalo meat. Outdoor cooking is so much fun. My group came together each day and helped willingly to help with all aspects of our projects. 2. Games and Challenges A. Participants: 7 B. Games and Challenges encourages positive communication, healthy habits and fun. It is designed to make kids think, express themselves and get active. One of the great things about this program is that it lets participants try out public speaking (they don’t know this) within the context of a casual group setting. As games and activities are shared youth get to explain details and clarify directions. This program was held at Dryden Lake so in addition to playing group games we were able to explore the Jim Shug trail. 3. Environmental Explorers A. Participants: 8 B. The goal of this program was to increase awareness and stewardship towards our planet. Additionally I hoped to provide some fun ways for the kids to live more in balance right in their own backyards. This week included 2 field trips. We travelled to the Syracuse Zoo on Monday where I encouraged participants to look not only at the captive animals but to see the wild things that used the park like setting of the zoo as home. We explored Dryden Lake and mapped a variety of natural features and important wildlife sightings. One of our important sightings was brought to us by a local blue jay. We caught it mimicking a red tailed hawk in an effort to scare away competing birds from its food source. Our final day was spent on the floating classroom as we worked with Bill Foster and his amazing team exploring the aquatic health of Cayuga Lake. Page 5 of 7 This was an amazing opportunity for everyone involved. Many of the participants had never been on Cayuga Lake before. Bill emphasized that all of the work and data we were collecting was very important in that it was helping us get a picture of the long term health of our finger lake. The highlight of this trip was catching a variety of fish using a seine net. Working as a group we waded through the shallows at Myers point and trapped a variety of fish. 4. Primitive Pursuits A. Participants: 11 B. I held Primitive Pursuits at Hammond Hill this summer. Primitive Pursuits teaches youth about the environment through the exploration of native living skills and nature awareness. Self confidence is gained through the mastery of critical survival skills such as matchless fire making and shelter building. We work on teambuilding through group challenges while honoring individual talents as gifts that help strengthen the group. Hammond Hill provided us an excellent opportunity to really delve into important skills such as foraging, finding springs and shelter building. Additionally we worked on aidless navigation techniques such as the story trail and using streams as a way to find civilization. As always, working on fire was part of our routine. One morning we actually needed fire to stay warm. With temperatures in the upper 50s, a strong wind and a steady rain, we were forced to make fire because of a real need to stay warm. The kids learned about better clothing options as well as how to use fire in an effective way. 5. Finger Lakes National Forest Hike A. Participants: 7 B. This trip will take place from August 21st – August 23rd. It will be run in conjunction with the Joint Youth Commission and the Enfield Community Council. 6. Youth Employment A. Participants: 4 B. Things have been going very well for everyone involved with youth employment this summer. Students are will be finishing up their hours soon. I have spoken with both Diane at the Library and Suzanne at the Cafe and both are very happy with the whole experience. Our youth have learned new skills and have earned the right to feel proud of a job well done. Upcoming 7. Everything Else! My Fall lineup will be available in early September. Page 6 of 7 Freeville Summer Recreation Youth Employment Program Municipal Monitoring Visit, July 24, 2013, 10:15 AM Kris Bennett, Liaison to Dryden Recreation and Youth Commission Program location: Freeville United Methodist Church Interview with CIT Megan LaLonde (I first explained who I am and why I was there.) 15 year-old Megan is an alum of the summer program. She heard about the CIT position through her brother Nick, also an alum, and her mom Stephanie, former village clerk and DRYC member. She completed an application for the position and interviewed with Lacey (camp director) and Mark (her cousin and the assistant director). Since she already knew both, the interview was not too intimidating. They asked her for some ideas she had for choice time and things she likes to do with kids. There was no written job description at the time of the application process but she received a packet with details at her orientation. Orientation covered identifying child abuse, camp rules, expectations, shifts, etc. Megan works ≈9-5:30 every other week, alternating with Tori Carey, the other summer CIT (who was not present during my visit). Her duties include watching the campers, planning and implementing choice time activities, arts and crafts, sports, games with kids and also cleaning (there is a schedule of what is to be done each day). She said the best part of her job is doing choice time and arts and crafts. What would make it better? Not having to get up so early. On a scale of 1-5, she rated the job a 4 or a 5. She’s glad to have the job and sometimes comes even when she’s not scheduled because she enjoys it. She does not complete a time card. She knows that when she has questions or needs something that she can go to Lacey or Mark and that they will help her. At the end of each week, Megan completes a brief evaluation for, reflecting on her work that week. Either Lacey or Mark does the same and where there are differences, they talk with Megan. At the end of the summer, Megan will complete a ISCIT (I survived counselor in training) evaluation. (I have samples of the forms.) Interview with camp director Lacey Hulslander (351-8284) I complimented Lacey on the weekly evaluation forms, a useful tool for a first time employee. Lacey is also an alum of the camp and a former CIT so she has a good idea of what is helpful and the goal of the CIT program. The program has 6 counselors (including Lacey and Mark), 2 alternating CIT’s, and approx. 40+ campers. 3 of the 6 counselors are under 21 as are the CIT’s. Lacey feels it’s important for the CIT’s to have a defined role, that’s why they plan and lead choice time activities. They are also planning the talent show. When asked about challenges, Lacey said not being able to rehire the CIT’s; it’s a good feeder source for counselors. If more youth employment funding were available, Lacey said the CIT program could possibly accommodate more teens, she said possibly, but they would most likely work in shifts, no more than 2 at a time. Funds could be used to support youth salaries for the <21 counselors (as was done in the past). I explained that in the future, all funding for youth jobs supported by DRYC may be centralized so that having this info about potential jobs will be helpful. Page 7 of 7