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"Helping Kids Get on the Right
Track"
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YOU KNOW?
The New
York State Office of Children and Family Services requires
every Youth Bureau to have youth representation on their
Advisory Board. Oneida County is fortunate to have 5
Youth Members on our Board! |
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OUR
BOARD:
The Oneida County Youth
Bureau Advisory Board
The Youth
Bureau Advisory Board is composed of volunteer community leaders who serve
to advise the Youth Bureau and the agencies it supports. Youth
Advisory Board members dedicate many hours of work on a volunteer basis
and are an invaluable resource to the Bureau and its staff. Board
Members are appointed by the County Executive with the approval of the
County Legislature. They each serve two year terms.
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Board Officers:
Lisa Matte - Co-Chair
Amy Dickinson - Co-Chair
Michael A. Parker - Vice-Chair |
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Meyoshi
Collins- Meyoshi lives in Utica and currently serves as the Director
of Community Trainers for the Resource Center for Independent
Living. She also serves as the Residence Manager for Domestic
Violence at the YMCA. Meyoshi brings a wealth of professional and
volunteer human service experience to the Youth Bureau Advisory
Board. She has held a number of positions at RCIL and served as a
Case Manager for the Utica Municipal Housing Authority. She also had
a stint as a Rockefeller Intern at NewsChannel 2 WKTV. In addition
to her service to the Youth Bureau, Meyoshi also serves on the Board of
directors for JCTOD Outreach and the Multi-Cultural Committee. She
also contributes to the Breast Cancer Committee and Zontas. Meyoshi
has an extensive educational background. She is currently pursuing a
PhD. She already holds a Masters Degree from the New School
University in Health Service Management. She holds two Bachelor's
Degrees: one from SUNYIT in Health Service Management and one from
SUNY Brockport in Journalism/Broadcasting. Meyoshi is a licensed New
York State Nursing Home Administrator.
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James
Davis- James is an
instructor of social studies at Clinton High School and an adjunct
professor of history at Mohawk Valley Community College. He is an
occasional columnist to the Observer-Dispatch's opinion page as a
community contributor, and a New Hartford native who returned to his home
town five years ago dedicated to improving the quality of life in the
region. He hopes to do his part on the Oneida County Youth Bureau to
promote quality programs for Mohawk Valley youngsters. James studied
at the University of Rochester (NY), graduating in 1997 with a honors
degree in history upon the publication of his thesis "Bob Dylan and
American Culture," and additional major in political science focusing
on international relations. Deferring doctoral work in American
history, James returned to U. Rochester the following year and earned a
masters of Science degree in social studies education. In 2002,
James received a Knight Foundation Fellowship to Harvard University to
study with an assemblage of some of the best social studies educators from
around the world at Harvard's Media and American Democracy Institute,
where James served as a teaching facilitator the following year. In
spring of 2004, James had the honor of representing Central New York as a
member of the Rotary Group Study Exchange Team to Kwazulu-Natal, South
Africa, where he toured a number of educational institutions, provided
information about life in the Mohawk Valley and in the United States, and
enjoyed a first hand chance to study South Africa history and
culture. His work in education has been featured in the Utica-Observer-Dispatch,
WKTV News, highschooljournalism.org, and as a call-in guest for NPR's Talk
of the Nation. Outside of his professional duties, James writes
and performs popular music, has released two compact discs (The Politics
EP, 2000; Voice, 2004) and is currently recording a new album with the
local band 'Tweed'. |
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Amy
Dickinson- Amy has served
as Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble since July of
2003. As the liaison between Barnes & Noble and the community,
Amy establishes and oversees community outreach programs, plans and
executes store events, coordinates fundraising for schools and non-profit
literacy and arts organizations and handles all communications with the
local media. Prior to her position at Barnes & Noble, Amy has
worked extensively with youth in Oneida County in several different
capacities. She has held positions of Childcare Worker and Teaching
Assistant at the House of Good Shepherd. Youth Counselor with the
PINS Diversion Program and Special Education Teaching Assistant in the
Clinton Central Schools. Amy studied Liberal Arts at Ithaca College
and has her Bachelors Degree in Business Administrations from Medaille
College and an Associates Degree in Forestry from Paul Smith's
College. An active community member, Amy served on the boards of the
Clinton American Youth Soccer Organization, and the Kirkland Women's Civic
Group. Amy lives in Clinton with her two sons, Porter and Jake. |
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Robert
Holmes- Robert is a resident of Bridgewater, a community he and his
family have made a lifelong impact on. Robert was the 5th child of
10 to Everett and Esther Holmes. Everett was the first
African-American Mayor in New York State. Following his graduation
from Bridgewater Central School in 1955, Robert served 3 years in the
United States Army. He has worked as a Drug Advisor for Mohawk
Valley Community College for three years and for the Utica Municipal
Housing Authority for six years. He has worked with the Oneida
County Youth Bureau for the last seven years and is now employed with the
Utica City School District. Robert's passion is the many
motivational lectures on self esteem, the importance of respect for others
and the ramifications of illegal drug use that he has delivered over the
past 20 years. His contributions have netted him numerous honors
including the Jefferson Award for outstanding community service, sponsored
by WTVH-TV, the JC Penney Golden Rule Volunteer Award and the Rita Webb
Smith Drug Fighter of the Year Award. He also is a member of the
Utica Optimist Club's Hall of Fame and the Mount Markham Central School
Hall of Fame. |
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Sandra
Lockwood- Sandra Lockwood is immediate past president of the New York
State School Boards Association for 2004. She served as president in
2002 and 2003, and vice president in 2001 and 2002. She has served
on the NYSSBA Board of Directors since 1996. As the Area 5 Director,
she represented school boards in Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison,
Oneida and Oswego counties. Lockwood is a member of the
Madison-Oneida BOCES Board of Education. She was elected to the
BOCES board in 1989 and served as president. Lockwood was first
elected to the Rome Board of Education in 1983. She was a member
until 1991, serving as president and vice president. She returned to
the Rome board in 1999, serving until 2003. Lockwood is a past
president of the Oneida-Madison-Herkimer Counties School Boards
Association and the New York State Association for Small City School
Districts. She was appointed by Gov. George Pataki to a five-year
term on the State University of New York College of Technology at
Utica/Rome. Lockwood received the Distinguished Service Award from
the Oneida-Madison-Herkimer Counties School Boards Association, and the
New York State Council of School Superintendents. She also received
the Distinguished Service Award from the State University of New York
College of Technology at Utica-Rome. She was selected as "Woman
of the Year" for 2001 by the Rome City Mayor. Lockwood is a
member of committees that advise the state education commissioner on the
federal No Child Left Behind Act and closing the achievement gap.
She is also a member of the Agriculture Education Advisory Council of
Cornell University and of Rotary International.
Lockwood earned an associate's degree in business from Mohawk Valley
Community College and attended Utica College. She is retired from
the Jervis Public Library where she was a media technician for over 32
years. Lockwood resides in Rome with her husband Judson, a
psychologist. She is the mother of three grown children and has
seven grandchildren. |
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Lisa
Matte- Lisa is Assistant
Director of Jervis Public Library in Rome, where she has been a librarian
specializing in Teen Services and youth development since 1997. She
earned her Bachelor's Degree in English in 1996 followed by her Master's
in Library Science in 1997, both from SUNY Albany. In 2004, she
earned certification as a School Library Media Specialist. In 2004,
she was the recipient of the Accent on Excellence Award presented to young
leaders in the Mohawk Valley, and her group of teen volunteers, YAC for
Youth Advisory Committee, was featured in a book published
nationally. YAC served as one of ten examples nationwide of how to
incorporate youth development in libraries. Ms. Matte has served on
the Youth Bureau's Advisory Board since 1998. She also serves as
vice-president of CNYLA Central New York Library Association (CNYLA) and
speaks at local and statewide conferences on topics from encouraging teens
to read to developing youth development programs in libraries. |
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Mary
Kathryn Maine- Mary Kathryn is a lifelong resident of Oneida County,
born and raised in Waterville. She currently serves as the Deputy
Director of GroWest. GroWest was founded in 1997 and has as its
mission the promotion of home ownership, business opportunities, economic
development, and neighborhood pride in the West Utica area of the City of
Utica. Mary Kathryn has served on numerous boards, always keeping in
mind the mission and the goals of each organization. A professional
team player, she enjoys being involved in the fundraising, volunteerism
and improvement of lives in the Mohawk Valley. |
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Nadine
J. McIntyre- Nadine has worked as a Legal Secretary and Paralegal in
the local community for the past 20 years. She received a degree in
Court Reporting in 1984, and received a Paralegal degree in 1994.
She was the recipient of the West Educational Publishing Award for
Outstanding Scholastic Achievement. She is presently employed by the
Unified Court System. Nadine has been active in youth-related
organizations for many years. She volunteers for the Oneida County
Fair, the New York State Woodsmen's Association, Boy Scout's of America,
and PTA. She currently serves as the Chair of the Boonville
Republican Committee. Nadine and her husband, Todd, live in
Boonville, New York. They have two children, Robert and Marisa. |
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Cary
Meltzer- Cary serves as Head of Youth Services at the Utica Public
Library, where she's worked in the Children's Room for the past 5
years. She coordinates services and programs and selects materials
for children 0 to 18 years of age, and for adults in their role as parents
and caregivers. She is committed to seeing that all area youth are
offered the same range of opportunities for growth and
self-improvement. Cary has worked in the children's departments of
public libraries for over 9 years. She received her undergraduate
degree in fine arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, and will be
receiving her Masters in Library and Information Science in 2006 from
Syracuse University. Her work with children has included substitute
teaching grades K-12, coaching AYSO soccer, being a Cub Scout den leader,
and PTO president. Still a practicing artist, Cary lives in Vernon
Center with her two teenaged children, two dogs and two cats. |
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David
O'Brien- David served as the Mayor, Village of Waterville for three
terms from 1996-2002. A familiar face in the village he calls home,
David spent 33 years as a teacher and athletic coach in the Waterville
School District. His service as the district's football coach earned
him Central New York Football Coach of the Year honors in 1980.
While retired from professional life, David continues an active volunteer
life. He serves as the Program Director for the highly regarded
Boys' State. The program, run by the American Legion, offers young
men from around New York State the opportunity to see first hand how
public service works. He has volunteered for Boys' State for 25
years. David lives in Waterville with his wife and is the proud
father of two children and a grandfather to three. |
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Michael
A. Parker- Michael began his first newspaper before he was ten years
old when he and his fellow members of the "Man from U.N.C.L.E
Club" started a newsletter and printed their own club money.
Although Michael no longer prints money, he does publish three newspapers.
The first publication, started in 1992, is the "Xpress".
This monthly publication is distributed to nearly 50 high schools and
junior high schools in Oneida, Herkimer, and Madison counties. He
also publishes the "College Crier", a publication that is
distributed to more than a dozen colleges in the Central New York
area. The third publication is the "Rural Oneida Star",
which is a hometown newspaper distributed from Rome to Middleville, and
Boonville to Utica. Michael gained his experience at Steffen
Publishing, Adirondack Echo and was the editor of the Boonville Herald for
three years, before starting the Xpress. Michael is also a
professional photographer and has a DJ show, "Sound Sensation",
which was started in 1976. He is vice president of the central New
York metal detecting club, village of Holland Patent historian and is a
member of the Sons of the American Legion Post 161. Michael can be
reached at 315-896-2628 or SCXPRESS@aol.com |
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William
Phillips- William is one of the five youth members of the Oneida
County Youth Bureau Advisory Board, William is a resident of Utica and
currently a senior at T.R. Proctor high school. Presently, William
is a member of the Utica Police Explorer Post 413, Oneida County Youth
Court, Proctor Mock Trial Team and currently an officer in the Proctor
NJROTC Program (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Core). In
2005, William attended the New York Boys' State program and was elected to
the position of State Supreme Court Justice and passed the Boys' State bar
exam. Recently, he was inducted into the Sons of the American Legion
by Ft. Schuyler Post#1290 and plans to re-attend Boys' State as a youth
counselor this coming year. |
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Lauren
Babcock- Lauren
is currently a senior at Clinton High School, and has just been accepted
onto the board. She is planning on attending a four-year school and
working toward her bachelor's degree in Speech Pathology. She
plays softball, participates in her school's musical, volunteers in
Clinton Elementary School with the speech therapist, and loves helping in
the freshmen biology class.
Lauren lives in Clinton with her parents, two sisters, her cat, Winkers,
and her dog, Bailey. |
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Kristen
Boudreau-
Kristen is a junior at Rome Free Academy serving in
her first term on the Youth Bureau Advisory Board. She is an active
member of the Oneida County Youth Court and a volunteer with the Special
Olympics. She serves as a Special Olympics Bowling Coach at King Pin
Lanes. She is very involved in her community and hopes make it a better
place to live in, through the Advisory Board. She finds the work very
interesting and it is hoping to become more aware of things in the
community that need help. |
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Megan
Ruskey- Megan
is a junior at Proctor High School in Utica. She is serving her first term
on the Youth Bureau Advisory Board. Megan is involved in a number
extra-curricular activities at Proctor and the community including:
advanced theatre lessons at Rome Capitol Theatre; NJROTC; Model United
Nations; Dance and Advanced swimming lessons. Megan lives in Utica
with her mother and sister. She will graduate high school in 2007 and
plans to attend a liberal arts college double majoring in psychology and
theatre. |
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LaToya
Brooks- This BIO is still under construction |
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HOME
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Oneida County Youth Bureau
209 Elizabeth Street
Paul Building - 3rd Floor
Utica, New York 13501
(315) 798-5027
© 2005 Oneida County, New
York, USA |
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