Date:  

April 9, 2009

Facilitator:  Courtney Lamport

Location:

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

Recorder: Robin Lyle

Attendees:

Kelley Bayer, Judy Ekman, Dan Tallman, Diane McGarry, Dave Torres, Sarah Rudgers-Tysz,
Natalie Grome, Julie Cobello, Liz Samenfeld-Specht, Eleanor Stanton, Mike Piccirillo, Jack Sandler,
Bill Boehmke, John Kelly, Lynne Mackey

Materials Distributed:

n/a

Overview

Discussion

Decisions/Actions

News and Announcements

·  The Profiles in Character article was published on April 3, 2009 in the Life section of the Saratogian. Two youth were featured, one from the high school and one from Geyser Road Elementary.

·  On May 4^th at 6:30 p.m. in the High School East Little Theater located on the Shenendehowa Campus, D.A. James Murphy will be speaking to parents about “Sexting,” the practice of sending nude photos or sexually explicit messages via cell phone. Youth are permitted to attend. Please email Courtney for directions.

·  A special webcast training on Environmental Strategies to reduce underage drinking in the community is taking place on April 15^th at 2 p.m. Please join us at the Prevention Council in our conference room to view the training. Examples of environmental strategies include media campaigns, changing policies around underage drinking and enforcement via compliance checks. If you would like more information on this training, please contact Courtney Lamport. If you would like to view the webcast on your own, visit https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join/.

·  Conference number: PW3083421, Audience passscode: ENVIRONMENT

Sustainability

·  The sustainability committee, consisting of Mike Piccirillo, Eleanor Stanton, Jack Sandler, Cindy Dort, Judy Ekman and Courtney Lamport, created a sustainability plan required for the coalition’s continuation grant that was submitted on March 2^nd.

·  The committee created a plan with a goal of formalizing the Partnership in order to sustain itself after funding from the Drug Free Communities grant is no longer available.

·  The committee updated the Partnership on what formalizing the Partnership would look like and what would be required of coalition members.

·  Ideas included: create a Board to drive the Partnership since it is currently driven by Partnership staff; have the Board consist of various representatives from numerous sectors to create a balance of knowledge and expertise; allow members of the coalition to sign on for a period of time with differing levels of commitment, such as signing MOU’s with assigned responsibilities and timeframes. Thoughts behind formalizing the Partnership are to maintain the coalition, but also have others invest their time and skills for various tasks and timeframes. This will allow individuals to participate and add to the Partnership for either a long period of time such as a year, or a short period of time until a task is complete.

·  After the Partnership members heard these ideas, members were able to voice their opinion. Everyone in attendance welcomed the formalized structure.

·  The creation of a sub-committee for new members was also suggested to have current members serve as mentors to new members so they can be educated on the who, what, why of the Partnership.

 ·  The sustainability committee will meet on April 16^th @ 10 a.m. to move forward with drafting the plans to formalize the structure. Items discussed will include: drafting guidelines and responsibilities of Board members and members vs. partners of the Partnership.

·  Draft of the information will be sent prior to next Partnership meeting so everyone can make notes to discuss at the meeting on May 14^th.

Other
Information

·  Each subcommittee was asked to create a section on their minutes/reports specifically for that committee’s needs, including a contact name and information. This will allow people from the community or other subcommittees to utilize their expertise for a specific task or timeframe.

·  We would also like to create a Partnership directory so that positive connections within the Partnership can be used for linkages within or outside of Partnership initiatives. Courtney Lamport will be developing a form to fill out. Please let her know if you Do NOT want to have your information listed in the directory.

Committee
Updates

·   Transition Committee
The committee is looking to have the 9^th grade youth that belong to this group take part in two (2) community service days. For more information, contact Josh Walker.
 

Parenting Resource Committee
The committee will be meeting again on April 23, 2009 at 2:45 in the Superintendent’s conference room to discuss Parent University. To get involved, contact Courtney Lamport.

Community Laws & Norms Committee
The committee is at a stand still and is in need of members. The committee is working on social marketing campaigns around underage drinking, finding out how many calls have been made to the 1-800 underage drinking hotline, and how many compliance checks have occurred in Saratoga Springs. This group works on changing the environment to create population level change around issues of alcohol and substance abuse. Examples of environmental strategies include the use of social marketing campaigns, including, “Parents Who Host Lose the Most,” changing policies, and enforcement via compliance such as party patrols and shoulder taps. For more information, contact Cindy Dort.

Youth Empowerment Committee
The committee is creating a mission statement about challenging the perceptions of their peers, parents and the community in regards to underage alcohol consumption and drug use. The goal is to let people know that not everyone drinks and/or uses drugs. They are also working on a Youth Summit revolving around issues of marketing of alcohol to youth and prescription drug use. The youth are creating a documentary to show actual marketing directed toward youth in the Saratoga Springs community. The summit will take place on Saturday, May 9^th from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
For more information, contact Becky Black.

To learn more about Environmental Strategies please join us at the Prevention Council to view the webcast listed above in the news section of the minutes. Contact  Courtney Lamport for more information.

 

Just Ask: This committee is in need of members to move forward with their work. If you are interested please contact Cindy Dort for more information on how to get involved.

Just Ask: The Youth Empowerment Committee is asking for more Partnership members to assist with the Summit and for members to start letting people in the community know that the youth need their support. For more information please contact Becky Black.

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