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
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• 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
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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
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