Date:  

September 21, 2006

Facilitator:  Maureen Cary

Location:

3 Blue Streak Blvd., 2^nd floor, School District Administrative Offices

Recorder: Lori Beer

Attendees:

Robin Ambrosino, Kelley Bayer, Kati Behrens, Bill Boehmke, Stacy Bold,
Vanessa Canzone, Maureen Cary, Judy Cobello, Judy Ekman, Michelle Hadden,
John Kelly, Courtney Lamport, Stephanie Lang, Mike Laudicina, Roland Lavigne,
Hans Lehr, Marie MacPherson, Diane McGarry, Jim Murphy, Karen Pettigrew,
Eleanor Stanton, Dan Tallman, Judy Tirelli, Dave Torres

Materials Distributed:

Empowering Parents flyer, MADD Car Show registration form, Kids with Character Nomination Form,
Meth 360 presentation flyer, Saratoga Springs Public Library program flyers for children and families

Overview

Discussion

Decisions/Actions

News & Announcements

 ·     The new YMCA facility is expected to be open in time for 1^st of the  New Year. Staff will move in mid December. Site will have 200 parking spots, which makes staff very happy.

 ·     Girls, Inc. has been doing a lot of programming in Saratoga County. Keep an ear out for one-time workshops going on in area schools.

 ·     Dan Tallman is Vice President of the PTSO at Maple Avenue Middle School this year.

·     The Saratoga Springs Fire Department will have its annual Open House on Saturday October 14^th. Lots of fun for kids, tours of the station, K-9 demonstration, food all day. 1 – 4 p.m. at the Lake Avenue Fire House.

 ·     Youth Bureau Recreation Programs did well around the county this summer. They are seeing increasing numbers of kids, including pre-teens.

 ·     MADD is sponsoring a death notification training on Thursday, October 26 from 8:30 a.m. -1 p.m. for people who come in contact with victims who’ve lost someone under tragic circumstances. MADD is also hosting a Classic Car Show in conjunction with Albany County Stop DWI at the Crossgates Mall on Saturday, October 14 from 12-4 p.m. There will be Traffic Safety booths inside the mall and the car show will be outside. For more information about volunteering or registering a classic car, call the Latham office at 785-6233.

 ·     Courtney Lamport is the new Project LIFT Program Coordinator at Franklin Community Center this year. Roberta Goliber will be going on maternity leave in February.

 ·     There will be a two-night program called Empowering Parents on Tuesday, September 26 and Tuesday, October 3 from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., both nights in the Saratoga Springs High School Teaching Auditorium. The workshops are intended for parents and anyone who works with youth. Topics will be those parents tend not to be aware of – internet safety, child predators, pressures for sex parties, early involvement in oral sex – and how to keep kids safe. The two-night course is free. To register, call 583-4782.

 ·     The city school district is working with the Partnership and The Saratogian to extend their Character Education initiative into the community. Judy Tirelli and Dave Torres are on the 40-person committee for the district, which is working on getting the community involved in nominating kids with character for a monthly newspaper column. The initiative will kick off at the DBA’s Fall Harvest Festival. Local kids can be nominated for a different character trait each month, and all nominees will receive mention in the paper. One individual will be chosen at random for a more detailed profile each month.

 ·     The next presentation of the Health and Human Services Coalition will be on Meth 360,  a campaign designed by The Partnership for a Drug-Free America to build awareness about methamphetamines and how to prevent it from getting a hold in area communities. The free workshop will take place on Tuesday, October 17^th from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Community Room at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. To register, call The Prevention Council at 581-1230. The November 7^th workshop will focus on families, courts and crime.

 ·     The Saratoga Springs Public Library has an extensive list of free programs for children and families. Visit the library for fall programming brochures, or go to http://www.eventkeeper.com/code/events.cfm?curOrg=SSPL for information online.

 ·     It’s time to compile in-kind contribution worksheets for June to September 2006. She will compile hours, time and space for those people she usually does that for and e-mail the information to them ASAP.

 ·     The First Annual Melanie O’Donnell Memorial Run will take place this Saturday, September 23 at Spa State Park from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m. There are over 300 runners already registered, but more volunteers are needed. Maureen Carey passed around a sign up sheet. Melanie was the daughter of Vicki Merola, who retired earlier this year from a position as a Victim Advocate in the Saratoga County District Attorney’s Office. Melanie was killed by a crash caused by a driver impaired by drugs. The driver was sentenced today to 2-6 years in jail.

 ·   In early October Jim Murphy is meeting with the superintendent for WSHWE BOCES, who’s looking to foster better school and community interaction – i.e., gambling, meth use, etc. Jim would like some representation from Partnership members at a summit of all superintendents taking place within the next month.

·   Please return worksheets to Robin Ambrosino by October 1^st. Fax to 581-1230.

·   Anyone able to volunteer on Saturday the 23^rd should provide their phone number so coordinators can call tonight to discuss what’s needed.

Partnership Updates

·   Maureen passed around an article that ran in the Post Star after Travers, describing binge drinking by track-goers and a letter to the editor she wrote in response.

 ·   DARE All Stars Camp was great this summer. Served 192 kids due to increased registration. Several partners came to see the fun. The All Stars After School program will meet once a month starting with a camp reunion on Wednesday, September 27^th. (Rain date 9/28). 100 kids are signed up to come to the PBA. There are also 52 6^th graders and 16 7^th graders signed up for Lunch Groups with Kati Behrens. This is a huge response compared to prior years.

 ·   Robin reported that the Partnership website received over 3,000 hits during July and August when the pictures from camp  were posted online. The goal is to make the website become a resource for parents and a way to interact with both youth and adults. Pictures from  the Camp Reunion will be posted online with a link for parents to volunteer to make phone calls during our Parent Phone Survey in November.

 ·   Parent and Youth surveys will be administered this fall. Bach Harrison now owns the rights to the survey, which is similar to the Communities That Care version with the addition of gambling questions. The new company are less expensive and hopefully more user friendly.

 ·   This year’s youth survey will be in October. Parent survey will be in early November - ideally before the start of the New Year. We’re aiming for three nights of phone calls to obtain 350 parent surveys. Hoping to use the phones at Stewart’s again this year. Volunteers will receive dinner and a short training before they make calls. Most people are aware calls are coming. There is also a committee developing a Parent survey, since we  can’t use the same one as in the past. Ideas about how to change wording would be helpful.

 ·   Character education initiative has been revived, with the school district looking to reinforce protective factors in schools. Initiative will launch at the DBA’s Fall Festival. Partnership’s role is to develop a nomination form and solicit nominations. Nominations will be forwarded to Partnership offices, and one person will be chosen at random and featured in the paper with a picture and bulleted info. Other kids will be featured without a pictures. The first profile will run in The Saratogian in late October.

 ·   Judy Tirelli and Julie Cobello expressed interest in exploring the possibility of a fall festival this year. Late to get one going this year, but would be possible to have a booth with character ed nomination forms if they’re still interested.

 ·   Strengthening Families will start Oct. 3^rd  at Maple Avenue Middle School. Will be catered by Dinners by Design. Need to train more facilitators since school district would like to see the program at all elementary schools this year. Staff is working on scheduling another facilitator training.

 ·   In-kind worksheets for the period July 1 – September 30 are due to Robin  by October 16^th. Please account for any time, meeting space or equipment donated to the Partnership in that time frame.

·   Judy Ekman suggested inviting the reporter to a meeting about underage drinking and expanding our relationship with area media. Jim Murphy meeting with the Post Star editorial board.

 ·   All Stars Reunion chaperones are needed. Please call Kati Behrens at 581-1230 ext. 29.

·   Any suggestion for links to post on the website are welcome. Please forward them to Robin at robin@preventioncouncil.org.

 ·   Need partners to help us identify volunteers who can help make calls. Partners should brainstorm list of 5 names to bring to next Partnership meeting. Also, staff would like to have a committee create  a mailing for camp Strengthening Families families to solicit volunteer callers.

 ·   Maureen passed around a nomination form and encouraged partners to nominate kids.

 ·   Nomination forms can be faxed to 581-1240 or sent via e –mail to  maureen@preventioncouncil.org

 ·   Let Maureen know if there’s any interest in a Partnership-sponsored fall event. 

·   If anyone is interested in being trained as a Strengthening Families facilitator let staff know. Look for information about the facilitator training on our website:  www.saratogapartnership.org.

Idea
Exchange

·   In the future, Partnership staff would like to use some monthly meeting time to brainstorm ideas about things we could be doing as a Partnership – i.e.,. ideas from other organizations, activities going on that we could be a part of, etc. Some ideas at the October meeting included:

 ·   Every fall, Skidmore College makes it mandatory for kids living in dorms to meet with police and fire personnel to discuss safety issues. John Kelly suggested compiling prevention materials to hand out at that event. Also, the annual Parents’ Weekend every fall could be an opportunity to get info out to students and families. This year’s Parent Weekend is October 13-15.

 ·   Judy Ekman would love to see Skidmore as an institution become involved with the Partnership. In our favor, state funders are looking for colleges to collaborate with non-profits. Hard to impact upper age high school-age kids without reaching college-age kids, too.



 

 ·   Have had lot of parents express interest in being involved with the Partnership. One suggested a morning meeting, but difficult for regular members. How about alternating meetings? One month regular time and one month in the a.m. Suggestion for a brown bag lunch meeting was made Several people expressed interest

 

 ·   Kati would like to incorporate opportunities for leadership and community service for the kids that she works with.

 ·   Staff would like to streamline its newsletters and make them available online vs. snail mail. Would also like to keep everyone updated about current issues and trends, short briefs section with local news, issues, etc. Will keep members posted about future plans.

 ·   Maureen wondered whether SPARC kids at Skidmore would be interested on making Partnership website more streamlined, graphically interesting, user friendly. The volunteer group Benefaction suggested that SPARC is always searching for useful service learning projects.

 ·   Julie Cobello raised the issue of sending prevention messages to kids who don’t have access to a computer, or who are stuck in rural areas and not able to go to the YMCA for positive programming. John Kelly mentioned ongoing plans to establish  a recreation center at Jefferson/Vanderbilt Terrace or printing materials where people are likely to pick it up. There is a new director at the housing authority - Ed Spychalski.

·   There will be a gambling presentation by Michelle Hadden at the October meeting, which is October 12^th. Staff will plan for a brown bag meeting on November 9^th.

·   The Skidmore chaplain works with kids looking for volunteer opportunities. Eleanor Stanton will check in on opportunities for collaboration.

 ·   Partnership staff will organize a lunch meeting once and see how it goes. Will keep partners posted by e-mail.

 ·   If you  have ideas for projects for 6-8 grade kids please forward them to Kati.

Next Meeting

The next Partnership meeting will take place on Thursday, October 12^th in the School District Administration offices at 3 Blue Streak Blvd.