HomeMy WebLinkAboutYouth Commission Minutes 051222
City Hall 55 W. Tompkins Street Galesburg, IL 61401 309-343-4181 www.ci.galesburg.il.us
Youth Commission Minutes, May 12, 2022
City Hall, Galesburg, IL
Meeting Called to Order: Precious Dortch called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.
Attendance: Members Present: Eciel Burns, Precious Dortch, Mia Haneghan,
Paula Johnson, Jennifer Foubert, Chantiara Jackson, Brother
Shabazz, Courtney Wallace, Zakary Warfield
City of Galesburg:
Elizabeth Varner, Interim Director of Parks and Recreation
Jackie Smith -Esters, City Council Member
Absent: Joy Basosa-Nzumba, Deion Crider
Guests: Anthony Law
Minutes: Minutes from April 14, 2022 meeting were approved with the
correction of Zakary Warfield’s last name spelling, with motions from Zakary and
Courtney Wallace.
Parks & Recreation Report:
Interim Parks & Recreation Director, Elizabeth Varner, introduced herself and updated
the commission that City Council has approved moving forward to renovate
Hawthorne Municipal Pool, and to purchase Churchill Jr. High for a potential
Community Center. She commended Youth Commission members,
Joy Bososa-Nzumb and Eciel Burns, for making public comments regarding
the Churchill Community Center project.
Old Business:
Open Meeting Act Training-Interim Director Elizabeth Varner will schedule an Open
Meeting Act Training for all the youth on the Youth Commission.
College Visits: There was discussion regarding a student tour of Knox College and
Carl Sandburg College. Jennifer Foubert helped facilitate discussion. She would be able
to organize a meeting with the Youth Commissioners to be able to meet someone in
Admissions at Knox College to discuss goals. Knox College will have two open houses
in the fall targeting incoming students. Carl Sandburg College already has group visits
planned but is planning to meet with Chris Wallace of TRIO and Upward Bound.
Mia Haneghan is associated with this group as well. Mia brought up meeting with Knox
County TRIO College Bound students during a visit to CSC and explain TRIO.
Anthony Law also provides the group tours at CSC and is able to assist as need. He
would suggest
City Hall 55 W. Tompkins Street Galesburg, IL 61401 309-343-4181 www.ci.galesburg.il.us
registration and a questionnaire so CSC can target programs of interest. The Jr. High
program is Upward Bound and the high school program is TRIO. Paula Johnson
suggested scheduling the 3rd week in June. Anthony Law would need a couple of
weeks to set it up. He would like registration, with a maximum of 30 enrolled, but
allowing individuals to still show up the day of the tours. The target date is Monday,
June 27, 2022 in the evening, with 10:00 a.m.-Noon and 3:30-5:30 p.m. being potential
time frames. The age group will be Jr. High -12th Grade. Anthony will inform CSC of
what is needed.
Youth Commissioners are starting over on their surveys and plan to re-create the forms.
They will ask Principals about getting the surveys out in the schools. They are working
to get school board approval to handout flyers in the schools for advertising the college
tours and other events. There are teacher that print the flyers and then they can go
out to other schools.
New Business:
Adopt A Park / Clean Up: The Youth Commission agreed to meet at Lombard Park
on Tuesday, June 21 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. to clean up the playground at Lombard Jr.
High. Commissioners are encouraged to bring family and friends to assist. The City of
Galesburg will provide gloves and bags. It was suggested to ask Laun Dunn, at United
Way, for water and snacks. Interim Director Elizabeth will check on bags and gloves
with the Street or Parks Divisions. She reminded Commissioners that there will be a
Mobile Playground at HT Custer on June 11. A flyer will be provided regarding Mobile
Playgrounds and Nature in the Parks.
Election Opportunity: City Council Member, Jackie Smith-Esters, has talked to the
Direction of Elections, Lisa Watson, and will see if she can be a guest speaker at the
September meeting. There are no rules of age to be able to assist with elections so this
would be a great opportunity. She will provide dates in June.
Broadband: Mia Haneghan mentioned that it would be great to have Broadband for
the city to allow for more access. Elizabeth and Jackie confirmed that is a plan down
the roach. The Commissioners would like to have a guest talk about Broadband, such
as Orlee Lucero at a future meeting. They also are interested in having a School Day
Out to Job Shadow or meet Department Heads in the future.
Next Meeting: Thursday, June 9, 2022
City Hall 55 W. Tompkins Street Galesburg, IL 61401 309-343-4181 www.ci.galesburg.il.us