Date:  

November 13, 2008

Facilitator:  Courtney Lamport

Location:

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

Recorder: Becky De Witt

Attendees:

Robin Lyle, Kelley Bayer, Kati Behrens, Jack Sandler, Sarah Hunt, Liz Samenfeld-Specht, Kathleen Sephas, Mike Laudicina, Judy Ekman, Stephanie Lang, John Kelly, Courtney Lamport, Cindy Dort, Kate Rose Bobseine, Sue Costanzo, Diane McGarry, Eleanor Stanton, Mary Haley, Elizabeth Hurlihy, Bill Boehmke, Deb Lagoe, Roseanne Jackling, Trooper Phil Poitier, Brenda Quinn.
 

Materials Distributed:

 n/a

Overview

Discussion

Decisions/Actions

News &
Announcements

·    Teen Driver Safety Day saw 800 student who took part in seatbelt wars and blurred vision goggles.  This event was sponsored by State Farm Insurance and it was such a huge success that it was booked again for next year.

·    Three students at Skidmore are instituting a Cheers program.  When Skidmore Students identify themselves as a Designated Driver in local bars they will receive free non-alcoholic drinks.

·    There is a free Conference on Nov. 21 from 10 am – 3pm at The Town of Colonie Youth Bureau, called “Bridges Out of Poverty. ” The program offers a framework for working with, teaching, and supporting youth and their families. Lunch is provided. The featured speaker is Kathy Hanna, Project Director for Bridges Out of Poverty.

·    Health and Human Services is offering a Free Community and Professional Workshop on “Steps for Stress Management” being held at Cornell Cooperative in Ballston Spa.

·    The Prevention Council and CADCA are working together to offer trainings around New York State on Coalition Building. There will be 3 one-week sessions.

·    Welcome new members!

Committee
Updates

·  Transition Committee: On Nov. 3 or Nov. 10, the Partnership will host a pizza party so the students and teachers from the Saratoga HS mentoring program can interact. The mentoring program has grown to more than 50 9th grade students. Transition Committee Members are encouraged to attend the party. 

Also, an evaluator was hired to show the effectiveness of the Transition Committee's efforts with the mentoring program. If you are interested in joining the committee please contact Judy Ekman or Courtney Lamport for more information.

·  Community Laws and Norms:  Met and decided to find out the number of calls received by the 1-866-Under21 hotline number. The group was surprised to find out that no records are kept of incoming calls and some police stations weren’t not even sure how the 866 number works. 

The 1-866 number is answered by the state police and each call is then directed to the local police district where the party is being reported. Local police are then dispatched to the location. There was discussion that a meeting should be held to help inform local law enforcement about the hotline protocol.  The committee would also like a media campaign promoting the hotline.

·  Parent Resource Committee: Parent University has become a reality.  The committee is developing a parent steering committee for Parent University that will put parents in charge of finding what courses need to be offered, and then pulling these classes together. The committee is also looking into Parenting Wisely, which would be a better resource for parents that cannot make the 6 week Strengthening Families program. 

We need to reach more families that are in need of parenting programs.  Grant says we will reach 50 Families. So far we have 11. Please check out Parenting Wisely online at www.familyworksinc.com

The parent survey in the past was done over the phone.  Now the Parent Committee thinks that we may be able to reach more parents if we made it available online via surveymonkey.com on the school district website, the Partnership website and possibly The Saratogian. Hard copies would also be accessible through the schools, going door to door or by making phone calls. 

·   Thoughts were to reach out to families that were referred to DSS, Center for the Family, or court mandated families through probation etc. 

 

·   Please let us now if you are interested in making phone calls or going door to door.  The Partnership and Parent Resource Committee would like to have the survey results along side with the youth survey  results available in February.

Next Meeting

The next Partnership meeting will take place on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 3:30 in the high school administration building at 3 Blue Streak Blvd.