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2019-03-06 Youth Commission MinutesYouth Commission Meeting Minutes 3/6/2019 Members Present: Alissa Berman Caitlin Chung Caroline Wills Cole Albaugh Emily Sanger Kaleb Nichols Nathanael Perdomo Noah Erickson Owen Lee Stephany Janssen Sydney Pearson Staff Present: Shannon Burley Called the meeting to order: Stephany called the meeting to order at 6:03 pm when Regi was ready for a Skype call. Skype Call with Regi, Head of Kirkland Youth Council: • Kirkland Youth Summit every other year during the spring • Summits are every other year because they need research and preparation between summits and need to save money • School district partnership means that it is a school -related absence, there are volunteers on busses, etc. • Sourcing speakers, use connections that councilors already have and the speaker depends on the subject areas • Typical to have small breakout groups within the classes from different grade levels such as 3 vs. 4-year high school • At minimum, the youth council will submit a short summary of years activity as well as a video to submit to the city council • When there are youth -related issues or initiatives the city council will reach out to youth Council • Meetings twice a month • Kirkland Youth Council formed as a youth task force, so the Council is directly connected to the city • $8,500 for every two years, so the number of people and cost in Youth Summit changes but about $4,000 in total —most of the money is spent on food, location and occasionally a paid keynote speaker • Had a keynote speaker twice, as long as kids feel it is effective then the speaker is hired • The technique used to deliver information is mostly having kids speak 1 • 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM so that it fits within the school day • To reach out to schools and get numbers, communicate with schools after a plan is in place so that schools can provide chaperones for busses o Youth Council puts out the message o Online registration o Selection to get proportional representation between schools, gender, and grade o Sometimes people have to get cut for bus space • Youth Council sometimes breaks up into groups; last year, split into groups by topic, and in past years, split up by job • Have middle schools and high schools: four traditional middle schools, two traditional high schools, two "choice" high schools, and three "choice" middle school as well as youth residents of Kirkland who go to school in other areas • The recommended amount of time depends on the establishment of relationships with schools and district, but if those are established, Regi recommends about a year to plan it • At middle schools, tables are set out at lunch and morning announcements are put on as well as posters; at high school, word of mouth and social media are used • Has representatives from all schools because they got 65 applicants, more people began applying as time went on • Youth Council creates a video in partnership with city videographer that includes a skit and is visible on the Kirkland city website—pick a specific issue to address Minutes Approval: Motion to approve 2/20/19 meetings minutes Motion passed unanimously Skype Call Debrief & Gun Violence Work Plan: At the previous meeting, the commission discussed the attendance of solely high schools. However, the Kirkland Youth Council includes both middle and high schools. The commission will focus on just high schools, with intending to add middle schools after the first few summits, in an attempt to maintain a high -quality event. A lot of the Kirkland Youth Council's outreach is through social media; however, the Edmonds Youth commission cannot create an Instagram account. The commission will try to make flyers that can be posted to peoples Instagram stories, the way school clubs do. One really unique thing about the Kirkland Youth Council was that they created yearly videos around issues. This could be a great long term goal for the Edmonds Youth Commission. The regular yearly production of a video could be shown in schools and relates to topics that are important over the year. To get more people, the commission members will reach out to English teachers as opposed to simply school ASB programs in order to get a more well-rounded body of students. Unfortunately, the 2 commission doesn't have a way to reach out directly to full Running Start students, but having social media will still get the message out to them. There are also email chains of Running Start students that can be used. As the commission gets closer to having this event, the commission will devote a part of a meeting to assigning different people to different kinds of community outreach. Shannon will provide information at the commission's next meeting regarding the commission's total budget but currently believes that $4,000 for this event is feasible within the commission's current budget. If it is not, the commission can reach out to City Council to request additional budget. Another thing Regi mentioned was that they don't have public speakers because she doesn't want students who are lectured by adults all day to keep in that rut. If the commission was going to have adult speakers, it would have to be short and very powerful. It would also be more achievable and useful to have student speakers. Having student volunteers speak can also reduce the costs and increase the effectiveness of the event, as well as increasing the relatability and inspiration taken away by the guests. It would be good to look at local action and student speakers before the commission reaches out to the greater area. The commission intends to have multiple short speakers, versus one speaker that occupies the entire time. Another possibility is to have 15-minute workshops that students shift through to keep them interested and to address the many specific facets of the issue. With that, the commission would create groups that are evenly spread out and would make sure that there are always people at each station. The commission may use a ranking system so that people could have some choice. When the commission is coming up with topics, it is important to make sure that the topics are relevant to teens' lives. To come up with topics and what people are interested in, the commission could use social media combined with a Google Form to gauge peoples' preferences and passions. The commission also will determine if the purpose of the event is to "teach, tell, or change." As the commission currently understands this, this will help figure out who should be leading each session. In order to be successful, the commission will also utilize a combination so that people can make an informed change. In the workshops, participants would receive more specific information on a given subject. To summarize; the commission would create small groups that address specific topics in a workshop and have a Youth Commission Member in each group to guide the discussion. The goal is that the participants leave more educated about these issues and creating a list of priorities for future discussion on the subject. The commission will create a timeline for event planning soon due to the abstraction of current discussions. School District Relationship: The commission hopes to create relationships within the Edmonds School District to provide transportation to/from the event and schools, excusing event -related absences, and providing chaperones. Stephany will schedule a meeting and will send out a text the group text with the date and time. Salmon Work Plan: There is an Environmental Club meeting on 3/25 that Stephany and Kaleb will go to. The last weekend of spring break is the next salmon meeting, but most members will be on vacation. Any work the commission can do on this topic will be good, but a few members can go to the salmon event over spring break to see what the meetings are like. Then the commission will have a better understanding of what is happening when the commission attempts to get more media attention and participation in May. The commission is yet to receive further information from clubs at schools besides Meadowdale. Edmonds City Council: On the issue that Edmonds City Council is currently discussing is homelessness in the City of Edmonds and there is currently a study going on about the homeless population in Edmonds, as well as what different groups are doing about it. After this survey, the commission may work with the City Council to promote education and youth outreach on this issue. To get an active voice in the City Council meetings, the commission hopes to pay attention to city issues and to make sure the commission understands them and are participating when it is appropriate and necessary. The commission wants to come to City Council meetings where topics of interest are being discussed so that the commission can establish a more active voice in City government. Councilmember Nelson can give the commission a few weeks' notice in order to get to the meetings with issues that may be relevant to the commission. Summary and Homework: The commission members will look over the homeliness report. The gun policy researcher's should be prepared to present at the next meeting. Those in charge of investigating clubs at the different schools will determine that. Stephany will schedule a meeting with the superintendent. All members should come up with 2-3 ideas for breakout group topics. Commission members will also find contacts from the unrepresented schools (King's, Scriber Lake, and Edmonds Heights). Next meeting in two weeks 3/20/19 4