HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-03-15Dryden Youth Commission
® March 15, 2005
Minutes
Present: Kristen Blackman, InShik Lee, Patty Mooney, Tracy Kurtz, Eric McConnell; Kris Bennett, Nita
Baldwin Guests: Linda Schoffel, Bridget Gaines, Dave Hall (CCE); Paul Streeter (DYOF); Jennifer Staton (T.
Dryden Rec.) Absent: Alan Macomber
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 pm and introductions were made. The minutes from February were
approved with one correction — fix spelling of Steve Trumbull's name in paragraph 4.
Dryden Youth Opportunity Fund Paul Streeter is involved with this organization that was organized about a
year ago and is modeled on the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. They have done 2 rounds of
fundraising (first raised $7,000, second raised — $4000) and have a base of 4045 donors. DYOF wants to
enrich existing youth programs and opportunities. They held a roundtable last Oct. that was very positive in
providing them with info on what Dryden needs. (The new McLean Cassavant School after -hours program
was spurred by the roundtable, Marge Albom was inspired at the roundtable and has moved ahead very
quickly to create this.) Paul distributed a handout with information on their recent grant awards. An application
for funding is available on their website, www.dyof.org They are open to any requests but will not fund
individuals or replace funding that should be the responsibility of schools or governments. They have funded 7
out of 15 requests, most recently the Club Dryden event in Feb. Age range is not clearly defined, could be
pre -K — high school age. They are very interested in linking to other existing Dryden youth advocates. Kris
said the DYC held a forum in 2002 to get feedback from the community as part of a needs assessment and will
® make sure to connect with DYOF when the next needs assessment is done. Tracy thanked Paul for coming
and for the presentation.
Cornell Cooperative Extension Dryden Youth Services Annual Report Linda said that in 2004 the program
mangers aimed to be more intentional, creating programs that address certain skills they want the kids to work
on. She distributed the 4H Life Skills chart; DYC members should start seeing the language from the chart
showing up in program mangers' reports. The database they created has been very helpful in compiling
information on the youth served. "Total participation" shows youth who attended more than one program; they
offer this while also opening programs to students referred by the school and to new kids. They can track the
number of students referred to the program by school staff but the reason for the referral is much harder.
Dave Hall likes the "success story " part of the annual report best. He chose Primitives participants for this — at
the winter overnight, the adult leaders let the "veteran" youth take charge: making the shelter and leading the
process, instructing the younger participants in what needed to happen, It's great to see the maturity and skills
that these youth have acquired. When asked whether there's any info, re, participants who went through the
program in past years, Dave said some kids still come to see him but there is no formal way to track kids once
they're no longer participating. Dave also chose Primitives as his program to evaluate. He set three outcomes
to measure: group dynamics, individual youth (willingness to try new things, getting along with others,
communication.) He uses a daily journal to track these. A third goal, having each youth set a personal goal
for his/her participation in the program, was abandoned because it was too hard to be intentional with this,
since the program needs to be flexible to adapt to unpredictable weather and other factors. Monthly report -
Dave explained that his Teen Challenges group meets during school lunch periods; most students are
referred. When asked whether he gets any feedback from guidance or other school staff on impact the
program has on the student, Dave said nothing formal, sometimes verbal comments, but he would like to learn
more about this. Dave handed out the spring program list. Tracy warned that the school district may reduce
the mailing of the school bulletin to 3 times a year; this could impact how CGE programs advertise.
Referencing the previous wee k's presentation to the T, Dryden Board, kris warn ed that programs that look like
11 recreation " should be carefully described to show the other skills that are being stressed, She said the Board
members thought that E's archery was duplicative since the Town Rec. Dept, offers archery. She said that
after the meeting Jen Staton told her that the 2 archery programs are very different and she is glad CCE offers
it so youth interested in trying it can do so; also the CC program is less about learning archery and more
about the positive interaction with the program manager. Jen said she will explain this to the Town Board,
Bridget wines' success story was her Culture Club program. They explored different cultures th rough musical
instruments and food, culminating with a party for family members at the end. She is using her Green Thumbs
program for her evaluation; goals are around increasing awareness of careers in horticuIture, social skills and
attitudes, and awareness of food systems and the environment, Shoe used a beautification grant to have youth
plant bulbs and clean up a garden area at school, the bulbs are starting to come up_ She has 3 more sessions
and then her position with CC B is ending. Tracy and the rest of the DYC wished her well with her baby when it
arrives and thaniked her for her contributiorfs,
Linda said that she, Kris, Tracy, InShik and Alan had interviewed 3 candidates to fill Bridget's position and she
has offered it to Tom Archibald who has accepted. His references were wonderful, He's just completed a
Peace Corps stay in Gabon, Africa and is very interested in community building and cultural awareness, He'll
go with Bridget to her last 2 sessions to meet kids, Linda also distributed a report from Viola for the Super
Sitters program she's just completed in Dryden and the budget update, Finally she passed out a letter from
Jessica Houle, a local young woman who wants to create a vommunit, center in Dryden, specifically for the
Kirk Rd. area which has few resources_
Kris passed around 2 thank you cards for signing: one for Viola to thank her for pitching in, and one for
Bridget, to say good -bye and thaA you,
Recreation Updates Jen Staton gage an overview of several upcoming rev, events; This Sun. will be an egg
hunt (sponsored by Specialty Trophy), Next year will do after Easter. Bignups are underway far lacrosse,
baseball & softball; baseball & softball will partner this year with Craton and possibly Cortland, There will be
no modified program this year because Kiwanis is offering J.V. baseball. She applied to DYOF for funds for a
Battle of the Bands to take place Aprif 8 at the firehalf. There will be 3 -4 high school bands, These Bands will
also have the opportunity to "open" for the summer convert series which will run for 8 weeps this year, Winter
programming is winding down; wrestling had mostly younger kids in this rebuilding year.
Camps — She's stilt looking For space for summer programs since elementary schools won't be available due to
renovation work. Vr Dryden program is planning to use the middlelhigh school; still need to confirm this,
Working with Mr, Crawford to do this, Looking into availability of space at T03 and also looking into Ithaca
Rec. Partnership camps since Dryden residents can participate, Transportation would be are issue, however,
she's looking into the DYOF again for possible help with transportation, Patty reported that Rachel Hammond
will be the director of the Freeville Rev. Program this summer. They decided to use bottled water to meet
health requirements, Kris reported that the V, Dryden camp will have the same director as last year- Kyfie
Jotter; the vamp may decrease to b weeks instead of the usuaJ 61
Membership Updates Tracy reported that she has recruited a person for the vacant V, Dryden slot on the
DY , Her name is Rosemary Fitts, she teaches at the elementary school, kris talked with Reba about her
and Rosemary Witt complete the application form and contact Reba to facilitate her appointment.
LIYC Minutes Page 2 March 15, 2005
Review Draft Annual Report Kris distributed a draft of the report (still lacking info from the Brooktondale
Summer Program). She'd given it to the Dryden Town Board last week, Though several years ago we got
feedback to make the report shorter, the reaction from the Town Board has her re- thinking this since they
didn't get enough details and were confused by the way youth employment was listed.
Report on March 10 Town of Dryden Board Meeting Kris, Tracy and Linda had gone to last week's Town
Board meeting at the request of the Board. Kris had tried to get clarification from Steve Trumbull in advance
about what the exact questions were but all she'd learned was that there were questions about the CCE
budget and in general about the DYC programs, She had done her best to give a general overview about the
programs by going over the annual report but two Board members (M. Christofferson and S. Stelick) thought
that only 31 youth were served thru DYC programs (they saw only the summary of youth employment
participation, not participation in the other programs.) They also had questions about average youth salary
that Kris was unable to answer. They asked about where the funds come from (Kris explained state and
county funds are matched by Town) and who's paid with them (Kris said DYC are volunteers, her salary is paid
by County only). Board members were concerned with paying for "overhead" rather than youth programs.
Kris distributed a summary of 2004 DYC funds and showed how they were distributed between youth
salaries /stipends (19 %); salaries to staff working directly with youth (57 %); program expenses and supplies
(11 %); and program support (13 %). When they asked about how many youth participate in what sort of CCE
programs, Linda gave them copies of Dave's and Bridget's annual reports and explained the numbers. They
were interested to see this information; it was clearer than the DYC summary was. Linda also gave an
overview of Dryden Youth Services — how youth are recruited /referred, how programs are advertised, how
program goals are set and measured. She explained that all Tompkins County municipalities now contract
with CCE to provide locally planned youth programs. When asked if this included Lansing, she replied, yes.
She distributed the 4 -H Life Skills chart to illustrate the focus of the programs. They questioned several
specific programs (see "archery" discussion above under Rec. Updates) but overall had a better understanding
of both CCE programs and DYC. One question Linda and Kris could not answer at the time had to do with the
CCE budget. Kris and Linda will send a letter explaining that in addition to the amount DYC contributes to
CCE, their budget includes 2 small grants (community beautification and NYSEG grant for Shopper ad) and
some program fees/donations (for summer program). Since Town hasn't yet signed the 2005 contract with
CCE, Linda hopes that all their questions have been answered. Kris will follow up with Steve Trumbull on this.
Kris said that although the DYC has made regular presentations and reports to the Town and Villages, there is
still confusion about DYC programs and goals. She suggested DYC hold an annual meeting later this spring
and invite municipal officials, Rec. Commission to showcase and report on our work. After discussion of
defining this event (this is not the time to showcase youth program opportunities though that would be good for
another meeting but rather a chance to report on the DYC and its programs) we agreed to talk about this again
next month. Patty added that many Dryden officials still have confusion about the Rec. Partnership, the Rec.
Commission and the Youth Commission and anything we can do to help clear this up would be useful.
Goals Due to lack of time this was postponed until next month.
Next meeting Will be April 19, 6:30 pm at Dryden Town Hall.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
DYC Minutes Page 3 March 15, 2005