Present: Wendy Bleecker, Hyacinth Burt,
Dan Ruddell, Joanne Benham, Chase Bennett, Rand Trevey,
Sally Pritchard, Bev Reed, Kris Major, Yvonne Lopez-Morton,
Stacie Davis, Tammie Shaw, Rick Phillips
Summary of Discussions
1. Discussed Volunteer of the Year award luncheon on 4/25/07. Wonderful
opportunity to celebrate the depth and breadth of volunteer
efforts in the wider community.
2. Community in Schools Update. George Nacheim, a retired
business man and community leader, has stepped forward to take
a leadership role on putting together the application for a
1053C organization. Partners currently include business
leaders from Wells Fargo, Costco, and Comcast. Comcast
will provide free PSAs for the initiative. George will
help bring a board together around a focus of school to work
for all students. This is based on a recognized need
to meet the needs of business for workers well prepared for
today's job in the fast food industry and other highly interactive
sectors.
3. The SS/HS Partnership meeting will integrate with the
YDN meeting. The purpose of one meeting per quarter will
be to have grant groups report out on sustainability.
4. Girl Scouts. Uniquely Me will have a special day
on April 14 called "Her Day". This is for girls
11 and older, and girls can register online at the Girl Scout
website.
The Girl Scouts will also celebrate their facility renovation
with an open house on May 20th.
The Girl Scouts are also celebrating a re-organization that
has led to the formation of a new council named the Girl Scouts
of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho..
Stacie Davis also announced the Chase Youth Awards for this
year, which will take place on March 27 at Whitworth's Coles
Auditorium. There will be three different ceremonies;
Elementary student leaders will be celebrated at 5:00; Middle
School youth leaders at 6:30, and High School youth leaders
at 8:00.
5. Other community events celebrating youth:
- Paint a Helmet, put on by the Kiwanis, will be held April 14th at the
Fair Grounds. This is for kids age 3 and up, and there will also
be a resource fair for parents at the same time.
- Chase Youth Commission Foundation breakfast fund raiser. May
4th at the Doubletree downtown
- Hispanic graduating seniors ceremony. May 3rd.
- The Kiwanis will host the Key Leadership Training institute this summer. This
is the first time this institute has taken place in eastern Washington,
which is a major accomplishment.
6. Kris major provided an overview of the educational
opportunities available at the MAC, which consists of three
separate museum themes: Regional History; Visual Arts;
and American Indian.
- Adult programs
- K-12 Programs
- Outreach programs, including the traveling artifact trunk
program; a People of the River presentation that includes
local artifacts presented by American Indian adults; and College
night, which includes an orientation for college students. For
all program, scholarships are available for students or families
who might not otherwise attend.
- Family programs: MACFest the second Sat. of the month during
the school year. A special MACFest will take place April
28 called "A T-Rex Named Sue"
- Teacher training, including workshops, a teacher night
in the fall and a summer institute.
Kris also noted that there are wonderful volunteer opportunities
for youth 16 and older.
7. Discussion around Diversity Issues. Yvonne Lopez-Morton
presented the results of her discussion with the SMART group
(Spokane Minority Advisory and Resource Team). Previously,
the YDN group had set an action step to engage minority leaders
in a focus group addressing the topic of how to understand
and address the barriers that prevent some minority students
from participating in community youth activities.
The YDN group reached consensus during this meeting on inviting
the SMART group to meet with YDN, either at the May meeting
or at a time convenient to that group. The purpose of
the meeting would be to have YDN members observe and listen
to a facilitated focus group of SMART members addressing the
needs of diverse youth in community participation.
In preparing for this focus group, the YDN members agreed
to read a book that would help them gain further background
into the concept of white privilege and it's manifestation
in public policy. Wendy and Yvonne will talk with Wallace
Williams, a leader of the SMART group, to get recommendations
for a book that addressed this topic, and the SS/HS grant will
fund buying the book for YDN members. Members will read
the book and use a book study process to explore the meaning
of the content.
8. A concluding discussing included the plans by the Spokesman
Review to host a month long focus on Child Abuse in the newspaper
on around community events. The intent is to make the
issue not just a non-profit and social services issue, but
a community wide issue that looks at Our Kids as Our Business. The
public is invited to a meeting on March 21st to discuss a capstone
event for this month long initiative. This may tie in
well with the After School Program's student leadership teams
and with the high school SAS' leadership initiative.
Next meeting is set for April 10th at noon at the Girl Scouts
facility.
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