November 24, 1999

DATE: Wednesday, November 24, 1999

TIME: 5:00 pm

PLACE: City Hall, Room 345

1. Call to Order and Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 5:10 p.m. Commissioners present: Lau, Pang, Yee. Commissioners absent: Castillo. Staff: Jessica Smith.
2. Approval of the Agenda: Items A and D were tabled because of Commissioner Castillo's absence. Item E was moved to the top of the agenda, and the agenda was approved.
3. Public Comment: There was no public comment at this time.
4. New Business

1. Discussion and possible action re: Creation of city-wide scholarship. Commissioner Bonilla presented a plan to create a Youth Commission sponsored city-wide scholarship fund. Committee members and members of the public gave feedback on eligibility and selection criteria, which included discussion on a community service/leadership component, at-risk and financially disadvantaged students, the definition of residence, targeting certain neighborhoods, an essay component, and an interview. Commissioners agreed to examine in greater detail how to target youth from certain areas while remaining inclusive to all youth, and to put a heavy weight on financial need. Commissioners also discussed the feasibility of the Commission running this program alone, and discussed collaborating with other groups. Finally, the Committee voted to recommend the general idea of a Youth Commission scholarship fund to the full Youth Commission for further discussion, and Commissioners Pang and Yee to research existing scholarships.
2. Discussion and possible action re: Researching the departments under committee including: San Francisco Board of Education, San Francisco Unified School District, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco Youth Works. Committee members agreed to make contact with the Student Advisory Council of the San Francisco Unified School District, and requested that staff begin researching other departments.
3. Discussion and possible action re: Brainstorming projects for the committee. Each Committee member gave one idea for a major Committee project. Commissioner Yee suggested the Committee could work on getting after-school programs in every elementary school in San Francisco. Binta Leighton from Infusion-One told Commissioners that they have after-care, and asked to be kept in mind for future outreach. Commissioner Pang suggested getting a youth-focused column in the Chronicle/Examiner, and each middle/high school could take a turn writing it. Commissioner Lau reminded Commissioner Pang that YO! has a section in the Tuesday Chronicle, and Commissioner Pang agreed to contact them. Shelly Bradford-Bell from the Bay-View Opera House told Commissioners that they have a magazine called Heritage and they would love to put Youth Commission articles in it. Commissioner Lau was interested in improving science literacy in San Francisco schools. She suggested working with Project ASTRO to create astronomer-student partnerships and help expand their programs. The Committee members all agreed to research next steps for their proposed projects, and they agreed to have talked to at least one contact by the next meeting.
4. Discussion and possible action re: Setting the next meeting's Agenda. Commissioners agreed to have a report-back on Commissioner Bonilla's scholarship proposal. Also, a representative from the SAC will be given time to talk. Finally, Commissioners will report back on their proposed project ideas, and the Committee will select its first major project to begin work.

5. Staff Report: Staff requested that a member of the committee contact the Student Advisory Council so a representative could attend the next Education and the Workforce Committee meeting, and Commissioner Yee agreed to contact a SAC member by December 6^th.
6. Announcements: No announcements.
7. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6 p.m.