Lake County Gazette

City of Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation met July 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the foundation:

Voting Members Present: Rick Wolfe, Carol Wolfe, Joe Adler, Dan Pierce, Rhoda Pierce, Gail Guggenheim, Lori Wyatt, Holly Kerr, Cheryl Levi, Marcia Rosenbaum, Phil Bettiker, Trudy Bettiker, Matt Pestine, Carole Schmarak

Voting Members Absent: Nancy Richman, Sandy Richman, Rene Nissim, Emma Kowalenko, Tony Bilotti, Abby Block, Larry Block, Wendy Lipsman

Student Liaisons Absent: Spencer Coplan and Roy Steinberg Guest: Jamie Pestine

I. Call to Order

President Carol Wolfe called the meeting of the Highland Park, Illinois, Sister Cities Foundation to order on July 22, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. at the Highland Park Police Station

II. Approval of Minutes:

On motion by Cheryl and seconded by Phil the June minutes were approved.

III. Treasurer’s Report

There was no Treasurer’s Report

VI. Report on Sister Cities International Convention

Carol and Rick reported on the workshops they attended and speakers who presented at the Sister Cities International Convention they attended in Houston.

Workshops:

Electronic Sports (E-sports), Music Festivals, Sports Diplomacy, Diplomacy through Art, Rotary Partnerships, Scoop Jackson Leadership Program, Mexico/US Summit

Speakers:

Compassion is Good Business for Cities-Mayoral Panel headed by San Antonio Mayor, Ron Nirenburg

Comments by Marie Royce, Asst. Secretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

Carol shared some of the projects Sister Cities organizations around the country have created.

Keynote Speaker at Awards Ceremony-President George Bush

Carol and Rick were honored to accept Sister Cities International’s Award for 2019 Best Overall Program on behalf of the Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation.

V. Display Case Abby and Wendy completed the Sister Cities Display Case on the Lower Level of City Hall. Carol expressed the Board’s gratitude for their efforts. The case looks wonderful. It is truly something of which we can be proud.

VI. Sister Cities Sign

The sign, designed by our student liaison Roy Steinberg, has been installed in Sister Cities Park in the heart of downtown. Carol thanked Mayor Rotering for her support, Ghida Neukirk for her efforts to have the sign installed, the Dept of Public Works for their hard work, and the Sister City Board members who attended the installation. Carol asked the Board if there was an interest to have a Dedication Ceremony. The Board will discuss further at the August meeting.

VII. Parade

Carol thanked Lori for organizing our participation in the parade and expressed her gratitude to those who marched with the Foundation.

VIII. Brochure

Carol shared the Highland Park Sister Cities Brochure.

IX. Work Plans

The Board reviewed last year’s Work Plan and the Foundation’s accomplishments. The 2020 Work Plan was reviewed and discussed. Carol asked the members of the Board to suggest projects.

X. Puerto Vallarta

a. VirtualClassroom

HPHS World Language Department Chair, Jeffrey Handling is in Puerto Vallarta. The PV Sister Cities Committee arranged for him to tour Campoverde, the school that will be participating in the Virtual Exchange with HPHS. He also met with the teacher who will be coordinating the program in PV.

b. Corazon Update

Phil reported that there are currently approximately 82 children living at Corazon. The children are educated in a Montessori type program for grades 1-8 at Corazon. It costs $350 to sponsor a child’s education. Contact Phil if you are interested. After that, the children go to a prep school for an accelerated program. They take a one year course to learn English. The transitional housing is under roof.

XI. Modena

a. Virtual Classroom Project

Pierpaolo, the president of the Modena Committee in Modena, contacted Carol. He has a teacher(s) who are interested in participating in the Virtual Classroom Project. Carol connected Pierpaolo to Maria Barbanente, Italian teacher at HPHS, to plan the program.

b. Experience Modena-Maserati

Carol, Lori, Jamie and Matt will meet on Tuesday with Field’s Maserati to discuss the proposed Experience Modena event. The concept is to promote Modena, the city where Maseratis are manufactured and the home of Pavarotti. Details to follow.

XII. Visakhapatnam

a. Carol and Satish met with the Principal, Asst. Principals and Supt. of

HPHS to discuss a potential Virtual Classroom Project between Visakhapatnam and HPHS. Satish sent a list of possible topics to Principal Debby Finn. Debby will share the ideas with her staff and get back to us.

b. Carol presented those at the meeting with a list of all of the past programs and projects on which Sister Cities and HPHS have collaborated. She also proposed that the HPHS Jazz Band participate in the Student Jazz Festival that will take place this February. Mary Jo will reach out to HPHS to pursue this opportunity.

XIII. Yerucham

Joe lead a discussion about the challenges he has had finding a partner to work with him in Yerucham.

Several years ago, Dr. Dan Sapir and others, approached our Foundation about forming a sister city relationship with Yerucham. Dan and his wife were going to live in Yerucham, and he was enthusiastic about creating projects to benefit both cities. The Yerucham committee followed the process for becoming a Sister City.

Unfortunately, Dan has not been a reliable partner. In fact, he has not been supportive, at all.

The Board reviewed the successful exchanges we have had with Yerucham in the past. We had a successful robotics exchange; we brought a woman from Yerucham to participate in our Gourmet Gala in 2015; we donated $1000 to a Dental Clinic in Yerucham. We have also attempted several times to establish a Virtual Classroom with Yerucham. However, at this point, we are unable to find a partner to work with us in Yerucham.

After discussion, the Board asked Carol to send an email to Dan to determine his interest and/or ability to work as a partner and request that he provide the names of people who will take the lead in our Sister Cities relationship.

Carol will also ask Mayor Rotering to write a letter to Mayor Biton to determine his interest in the relationship and request his help.

XIV. New Board Directory and City Website

Carol will send out the revised Board Directory.

Carol thanked Jonathan Bogue, our staff liaison, for updating the Sister Cities link on the City’s webpage. https://www.cityhpil.com/government/boards_and_commissions/sister_ci ties_foundation.php

XV. Other

Julie Morrison is having a fundraiser on July 29 at the Italian Kitchen. Julie was instrumental in procuring the Chrome Books that we donated to Puerto Vallarta.

XVI. Adjournment

On motion by Holly and seconded by Carole Schmarak, the meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM.

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