Madison Park Neighborhood Community Alliance

April 2000 Alliance Meeting Minutes

May 19, 2000

MADISON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITY ALLIANCE


Mission: The Madison Park Neighborhood Community Alliance will strive to improve the quality of life for neighborhood children, families, and businesses through promoting community pride, and helping to create positive opportunities for all.


Meeting Date: April 19, 2000

Present: Randy Mettler - Duck and Decanter
Bob Nuss - Drum Beat Indian Arts
Jennifer Blair - Neighborhood Partners, Inc.
Curt Loch ?– Longview Rec. Center/Longview Community Alliance
Ann Ohmke ?– AZ Quest for Kids
Paul Brooks ?– Madison Park School
Mark Huish ?– Phoenix Police Community Action Officer
Reed Mettler ?– North High School Student
Pierce Mettler ?– Madison Park Student

We briefly discussed the purpose and mission of the Alliance, and it was suggested, it may need to be revised. One key word that we feel should be changed is ?“for?”, as in ?“improve the quality of life for neighborhood children, families?….?” These things should be done ?“with?” all stakeholders, not ?“for?” them.

Reed was asked to comment on what he would like to see at school that he doesn?’t see now, and his response was ?“More Clubs?”. Clubs and student organizations instill a sense of pride in their members and participants. Madison Park would like to have more clubs, but this would require extra time commitments from teachers who are already overwhelmed with the duties they have.
Park does have an after-school sports program, and band, but the remaining organizations offered; Student Council, and National Jr. Honor Society have restricted membership.
Reed told us that at North High they have a freshman orientation program, and freshmen are set up with a senior mentor. We feel this might be a program we could offer 3rd grade students coming to Park from Camelview in the future.

Arizona Quest for Kids
QFK is holding their end of the year celebration on May 10th. David Highmark and Dr Jones will both attend. This is also the day the Quest for Kids Newsletter will be unveiled.

Longview Partnership
Curt Loch is representing the Longview Partnership, as well as the Longview Recreation Center. Phoenix Parks and Recreation is already on the Madison Park campus this summer, and is also offering free summer programs at Longview School. There will be two fee-based programs, Creative Kids, and Sports of Sorts, offered at Longview Rec Center this summer.
Longview Partnership is currently focusing on how to increase their participation. We are still discussing the possibility of holding joint quarterly community meetings along with the DLM Fight Back residents, and anyone else who would be interested. This would be a way we could all come together and share ideas and resources. At their next meeting they will be working on getting an action plan to increase participation.

Festival of Cultures
Madison Park Festival of Cultures will be held on Wednesday May 3, 2000 beginning at 5:00 pm. The Madison Park Alliance table will distribute information regarding summer schedules, recreation, and job opportunities for neighborhood youth.

Getting Youth Involved in the Alliance
Is the primary drive of youth social? What would make youth want to come? Is this worth their while? Maybe they would be interested in putting together a separate alliance of their own. The adults could act as advisors, but let the kids plan it and make the decisions.

Alliance Luncheon
The Quest for Kids program has a need to do outreach for funding, and mentor recruitment. Do we want to have the focus of the Alliance Luncheon be Quest for Kids, or should they have their own separate luncheon? The luncheon could be held in the conference room at Northern Trust Bank.

Alliance Meetings
We feel we need to do some serious goal setting. We want to make this time be productive, not meet each month to discuss the same issues. Maybe even change the word meeting to something else.

Discussion Topic for Next Meeting:

?· Who are we? What are we doing?
?· Engaging Youth
?· Is our Mission Statement too broad?



Next Meeting: May 17, 2000
Location: Madison Park School Teacher?’s Lounge
Time: 4:30 p.m.

See You Then!!!