HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-17Dryden Youth Commission
June 17, 2003
Minutes
Present: Jean Simmons, Kristen Blackman, Nita Baldwin, Kris Bennett, Margaret Ryan, Linda Schoffel,
Deb Jordan, Tracy Kurtz
Excused: Walt Matyjas, Eric McConnell Absent: Penny Green -Brown
Jean called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm. Introductions were made. Tracy has submitted an application
to be appointed to the vacant Town seat; the Town will act on this in early July. Deb, a potential V. Dryden
appointee, visited in order to learn more about the DYC.
Program Presentations: Police and Community Program (P &CP) Margaret Ryan, V. Dryden Police Chief,
gave an overview and update. There are 3 components: 1) Visits to Freeville and Dryden elementary
school classrooms — each classroom is visited twice a year, each grade has a different topic. (McLean
School is visited by the middle school resource officer.) Officer McKenzie Ward has taken over many of the
visits since Margaret became chief. P &CP also did a couple of all- school assemblies (Halloween safety,
bike safety) and occasionally an extra classroom visit to address a specific problem area (example:
stealing from backpacks). Margaret attends the first teacher staff meeting of the year to get suggested
topics for presentations. P &CP doesn't get written feedback but verbal feedback from teachers is positive.
It helps to have a relationship with the students in case they need to return later in an "official capacity." 2)
Head Start visits — The number of HS classrooms varies from year to year between 3 -5, P &CP makes one
visit to each class to discuss stranger safety, etc, 31 Jr. Police Academy — This will be the 6th year of this
® one -week summer program which will meet at the Freeville fire hall from 9 -noon starting July 7. Dave Hall
does recruiting and is present at all sessions. Participant age is typically 9 -14. The week includes
introducing the kids to radar, the breathalyzer, canine unit (from Ithaca), traffic tickets /directing, evidence
and solving a crime scene (Margaret's husband from the state police). Goals are education, self -
confidence, build relationships with adults, team building, explore police work. Officer Ward has been
refining the curriculum for this year and will take over much of the Academy. At 11:30 on the last day is a
graduation" which DYC members are invited to attend, The DYC would like P &CP to use the program
evaluation form with the Jr. Police Academy this summer; Kris will send Margaret a copy.
Cornell Cooperative Extension: Linda passed out a general flyer about CCE that had been in the Ithaca
Journal. Linda reported that Dave and Carissa are finalizing their summer plans. Since the program reports
were sent in, Carissa's Girls Group held a dance for 6th and 71, graders at the middle school. They did all
the organizing, fundraising, etc. 128 kids attended, it was a big hit and turned a profit. Linda passed out a
budget, "wages assistants/casual" is over, due in large part to Dave's Primitive Pursuits. The DYC
expressed concern that it is already so much over through May. Linda felt that other lines would be
underspent, making up the difference, For example, fees will pretty much cover the costs of summer
programming and the funds in this line can go toward making up the difference. Kris reported that she had
visited Carissa's Working with Children program last month and felt Carissa did a good job, especially with
the large group (14 girls), some of whom were not very cooperative. Kris completed a monitoring report.
Kris also shared a "snapshot" of program participants compiled by all CCE program managers during a 2
week period in May. According to the snapshot, 39% of the youth would go home and be alone if they
were not enrolled in the program and 38% do not participate in any other school or community activities.
April /May minutes, 2003 goals: No action taken since there was no quorum.
DYC annual report: Kris had sent copies to all DYC members and gave copies to Margaret and Linda. Kris
reported that Walt and she will go to the T. Dryden board meeting on July 9th to update them on the DYC
and its activities. Jean and Kristen agreed to attend a V. Freeville meeting soon to do the same; Kris will
find out the meeting schedule and let Jean and Kristen know and offered to attend, too. Since there is not
currently an active V. Dryden rep, on the DYC Kris will offer to attend a V. Dryden trustees meeting,
Updates: Monitoring — Kris gave out monitoring report forms.
Budget — Kris gave out a worksheet showing an expected decrease in revenue for 2004 of $1184. $592 is
due to a decrease in State Aid; the additional $592 will be lost since the Town matches the State and
County funds. No action is required yet but the DYC members will need to think about how best to handle
this decrease when making allocations for programs for 2004.
Summer Programming — Kris had asked Jim D'Alterio for an update of the Youth Conservation Corps. It
had the biggest applicant pool ever, over 20 kids. They conducted interviews in early June and expected to
do the hiring on June 17. Projects are still developing but will most likely include baseball field work at Wall
St. (including bleachers, benches, making the field), additional projects at Montgomery Park (restore
bleachers, raise basketball nets/backboards), bridge and trail work at Dryden Lake and playground
maintenance. Kris also reminded Jim that Mayor Taylor had more work at the cemetery. Some of these
projects came via Jennifer Glaab, the Rec. Director. Kris and her co- worker Janice will be meeting later in
June with Jennifer to talk about coordinating between the Rec. Dept. /Commission and DYC. Kris reported
that Freeville has hired a camp director, Kathryn Cemerra and that InShik Lee from the Community Council
attended a recent workshop on accessing DSS funds for campers as a way of drawing in funds. The camp
may also offer a "before camp" option, providing supervision for early drop -offs for a small fee,
Other: Kris and Tracy will meet to bring Tracy up to speed on what has changed since she last served on
the DYC. Deb will decide whether she's interested in being appointed and let Kris know. Kris contacted
the V. Dryden to find out whether Penny's DYC appointment was still in effect or had expired, They will
check and get back to her. Penny has not attended regularly in a long time.
Plan for July meeting: We will start our July 151h meeting at 7 pm and will meet at the Town offices. Kris
and Janice will help the DYC through a "visioning" process. This will include considering other ways to
offer youth employment projects (such as a conservation -corps type of project run by CCE or TC Action),
coordinate camps (joing CIT training), and in general working toward maximizing programming for the
youth most in need with fewer resources. This will be an important meeting for all to attend.
DYC Minutes Page Two June 17, 2003