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Human Rights Commission Minutes <br />April 15, 2015 <br />Page 2 of 8 <br />Swearin� in of New Commissioner Arlene Christiansen <br />Chair Groff administered the Oath of Office for Commissioner Arlene Christiansen. <br />Public Comment on Items Not on A�enda <br />There being no one present wishing to speak to the Commission on an item not on the agenda, <br />the Chair moved to the next agenda item. <br />Old Business <br />a. Review Naturalization Ceremony <br />Chair Groff stated the Naturalization event had been April 15 and it had gone really well. There <br />were 21 countries represented by 47 individuals. <br />Ms. Collins suggested everyone attend a Naturalization Ceremony because when you are born <br />into a country, you take your citizenship for granted. These individuals worked hard for their <br />citizenship and you could tell the amount of pride they had in accomplishing this. She thanked <br />Byerly's for their generosity in donating baked items for the event. <br />b. Review Essay Contest and Reception <br />Commissioner Bachhuber stated the reception had gone well and all three (3) winners attended <br />with their families. Each winner read his or her essay. <br />Commissioner Slade asked if two (2) of these winners had been interested in serving as Youth <br />Commissioners. <br />Chair Groff stated they would contact these individuals when there was an opening. <br />Commissioner Bachhuber stated she and Chair Groff had met with the Chairs of the English and <br />Social Studies Departments at the middle school and tallced about what the hurdles were to <br />participating in the Essay Contest. These obstacles included the deadline being in early <br />November, the topic does not always align with the curriculum, there is limited access to <br />computers and having to reference 2 documents (i.e. United Nations Universal Declaration of <br />Human Rights and the U.S. Bill of Rights), and having historical or personal examples were <br />difficult. In response to this they are recommending changes to the Essay Contest. These <br />changes include extending the types of entries to include poetry, stories, and art (excluding <br />sculptures) and expanding the eligibility of grades from 6th grade - 9th grade to 6 grade — 12th <br />grade, with different divisions. They would also recommend making only 1 Human Rights <br />document reference required. They recommended announcing the contest early in the year and <br />having the deadline later in the year so students have more time to create. She reviewed the <br />