---
date: 2026-01-15
title: Youth Council Advisory Committee Agenda Packet
source: 2026-01/2026-01-15_Youth Council Advisory Committee_Agenda Packet.pdf
pages: 1
---

STOCKBRIDGE Youth Council Advisory
YOUTH COUNCIL Committee
ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting Agenda
Dr. Alfreda Renee Gourdine, Chair
January 15, 2026 6:30 PM
Ayesha Gambles, Vice-Chair
Joc’Quelyn Carter, Treasurer
Sharika Zellars, Student Liaison
Dr. Samuel Valme, Secretary
Valerie Richmond-Reese, Parliamentarian

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE
Tykera Goins
Candis Jones
Paige Jones III
Georgia McIntyre
Denita Webb
Dr. Thomas Smith
STOCKBRIDGE CITY HALL

4640 NORTH HENRY BLVD.
STAFF LIAISON
Cassandra Lester STOCKBRIDGE, GA 30281

Website: www.stockbridgega.org

Phone: 770-389-7900

Fax: 770-389-7912
AGENDA
YOUTH COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2026 6:30 PM

I. Call to Order
1. Invocation Followed by Pledge
2. Roll Call
3. Approve Agenda
4. Approve December 18th 2025 Meeting Minutes
II. Old Business
5. Youth Entrepreneur Expo
6. 2026 GMA Symposium
7. Winter Wonderland Teen Skate Night (AAR)
8. Area Beautification
III. New Business
9. SYC Leadership Retreat
10. SYC Recruitment
11. SYC/SPD Dinner and Discussion
12. Advisory Committee Retreat
13. Upcoming Calendar Events
14. Budget Report
15. Order Updated Name Badges
IV. Adjourn

The Youth Advisory Council Committee is to make recommendations to Council based on the following Terms
of Reference.
1. To identify and advise on youth issues in the City of Stockbridge.
2. To advise Council on the development of policies that are responsive to the needs of youth.
3. To consult with local youth and feedback results of consultations to Council.
4. To assist in the ongoing development and delivery of youth-targeted projects and programs.
5. To create opportunities for youth leadership development by acting as a resource for youth activities.

Note: This Committee meets monthly on selected dates.
Stockbridge Youth Council Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes
December 18, 2025

I. Call to Order
a) Quorum was met, and the meeting was called to order at 18:33

1. Invocation led by Dr. Thomas Smith
• Pledge of Allegiance: recited in unison

2. Roll Call

Roll Call Members Absent:
Dr. Renee Gourdine Candis Jones Georgia McIntyre
Ayesha Gambles Sharika Zellars @ 18:44 Tykera Goins
Dr. Samuel Valme Joc’Quelyn Carter Paige Jones III
@18:53
Valerie Richmond-Reese Cassandra Lester (City
Liaison – Guest)
Dr. Thomas Smith
Denita Minnis (Change
Last Name to Webb)

3. Approve Agenda

Dr. Valme: I am making a motion to approve the agenda for the December 18, 2025, meeting.

a) Motion: Dr. Samuel Valme
b) Second: Candis Jones
c) In Favor: All present
d) Oppose: None
e) Abstain: None
f) Motion: Carries

4. Approve November 20, 2025, Meeting Minutes

Madam Chair: Please review the November 20, 2025, meeting minutes. I will need a motion to
accept the minutes. We do not have them printed but if you go to the City of Stockbridge website
everyone can review them on their phone. Do we have a motion to approve November 20, 2025,
meeting minutes?
a) Motion: Dr. Thomas Smith
b) Second: Valerie Richmond-Reese
c) In Favor: All Present
d) Oppose: None
e) Abstain: None
f) Motion: Carries

II. Officers and City Staff Reports – None
III. Old Business

5. City of Stockbridge Tree Lighting Event

Madam Chair: The City of Stockbridge Tree Lighting Ceremony as you all know was postponed
due to the weather it is now coming up this Saturday December 20, 2025. Mrs. Sharika has the
list of the students that will attend, how many do we have Mrs. Sharika?

Sharika Zellars: It’s a mandatory event for all students, so they all should be there, there are no
shifts since it’s just 3 hours. They should all be there unless they have an extenuating
circumstance.

Madam Vice Chair: Except, maybe Addison right.

Sharika Zellars: Correct, Addison had a death in her family so her mom let us know that she will
be there if she is feeling up to it, so far, she is the only student who may not be there.

Madam Chair: Oh no, sorry to hear that. We will keep her and her family in our prayers. So,
the chair at the time was going to be Candis Jones, of course a lot of us that could have made it on
that Friday now cannot make the rescheduled date. Unfortunately, I will be out of town, so I
won’t be there this weekend, so Vice-Chair Gambles has agreed to Chair the event, and Ms.
Candis are you still able to Co-Chair?

Candis Jones: I won’t be able to make it; I had my time wrong for my other event.

Madam Vice-Chair: So now my question is, is there any other Advisory Committee available to
be there with me to assist with the students on Saturday?

Various Advisory: No, I have prior engagement, No I can’t be there.

Madam Vice-Chair: Ok. Looks like no, so Mrs. Cassandra, our Staff Liaison, has agreed to stay
there with me for a few hours to assist with the students.

Cassandra Lester: Yes, I will stay as long as I can.

Madam Chair: The event is from what time to what time?

Madam Vice Chair: It says it’s from 5:00pm to 9:00pm, but I told Cassandra I will meet her at
4:00pm to get the gifts out of her office, the items out of the closet and have everything pretty
much set up before the students arrive at 5:00pm. You told the students 5:00pm correct Sharika?

Sharika Zellars: Yes. I told the kids 5:00pm because the setup isn’t much. Ayesha and I will
meet here tomorrow to do like a rundown of how everything goes. We will have everything that
goes on the tables.

Madam Chair: What time are you all meeting tomorrow?

Sharika Zellars: We don’t know we were just going to play it by ear based off our days.

Madam Chair: Let me know, I am flexible tomorrow and can meet to assist with any prework
needed.

Cassandra Lester: I won’t be here tomorrow.

Madam Vice-Chair: That’s fine we won’t need you for tomorrow, that’s just for Sharika and I to
go over run of show since I have never done the Holiday festival before.

Sharika Zellars: Since you won’t be here tomorrow, Cassandra, would it be possible for me to
email Mrs. Vanessa some flyers we want to print to pass out? We wanted some flyers printed to
promote the skate event on January 10.

Cassandra Lester: I can still do the printing for you. Just send me what you need printed, and I
will have that done for you for Saturday.

Madam Chair: Anything else on the Tree Lighting Event? Ok. Moving on to Item #6. SYC
Winter Wonderland Update. Mrs. Sharika, you got that?

6. SYC Winter Wonderland – January 2026

Sharika Zellars: I posted in GroupMe that we finally got confirmation of the date and time for
that event. The event will be from 5:00pm to 9:00pm and the students arrive at like 4:30pm since
there shouldn’t be much major set up. I will be able to get details now on what we can bring in.
We want to have our flyer ready for the Expo so we can push that. Also, whatever documentation
we want to hand out about their initiatives. This initiative is overall wellness. They did send over
an invoice for it. It’s typically $17.99 for admission and $5.99 for skate rental. What they did was
waive the skate rental and we will pay for first 100 students. It gives us a little wiggle room. We
do need to follow up on security. Mr. Thomas, I need to get with you to figure out security. Do
you all want 1 or 2 officers? It is a teen event; it may be best to have two officers.

Madam Chair: Sharika, you mentioned getting the pricing on two officers, remember when you
went to the budget meeting, they mentioned that not coming out of our line items is that for next
year?

Sharika: That is true they were talking about our meetings and about area beautification, but not
for our events

Madam Chair: We need to check and see if it should be coming out of this budget or a different
city line item.

Sharika Zellars: I want assigned officers for this event, officers present for the entirety of the
event, not just a ride around.

Dr. Samuel Valme: It’s still security. It’s an event that we are hosting. I don’t think we should
set a precedent to provide our own security.

Madam Vice-Chair: So, you don’t think we should mention it coming out of our budget?

Dr. Samuel Valme: Correct.

Sharika Zellars: Ok. I will check on that.

Dr. Thomas Smith: Give me the dates and I will talk with the Chief about whether or not we will
be charged or what the process would be to request. What are the dates and time?

Madam Vice Chair: Saturday January 10, 2026 from 5:00pm – 9:00pm.

Dr. Thomas Smith: Ok. I will put in the request and report back to Sharika what is approved or if
he says no and we need to explore dedicated security on our own.

Sharika Zellars: We are in process of completing the flyer, the flyer should be completed
tonight so we can get it printed to distribute at the event on Saturday. Georgia will be working on
the Eventbrite. Who was saying they would work on the QR Code.

Madam Vice-Chair: Tykera, but she is not here.

Madam Chair: Was that the thing that we were going to pay for a subscription?

Madam Vice Chair: Yes. We need to figure out which platform we want to use and have
Cassandra pay for it, so none of us are having to use our personal funds to pay for the
subscription.

Sharika Zellars: Can we pay for it for the whole year?

Madam Vice Chair: Yes, that would be ideal. We just need to look up pricing and decide which
one we want to use.

Madam Chair: Remember the one we used for the expo. I think we could go with that one. I paid
for the month previously, but it’s probably best to subscribe for the year and we can use it for all
of our events.

Carter: Do we have budget for this?

Madam Vice-Chair: Yes, we voted on a marketing budget at the last meeting and the QR code
was included in that amount, it was like $500 something.

Candis Jones: We could generate the QR code using Eventbrite.

Dr. Samuel Valme: Be careful about subscribing to a platform and locking us into using that for
each event.

Madam Vice-Chair: So, the question now is do we want to use the Eventbrite QR code or do we
want to use a separate QR Generator. We budgeted $3,000 for marketing to include QR codes.

Sharika Zellars: Yes, I think we should just use the separate QR code generator so that we aren’t
locked into using Eventbrite every time and the QR code generator can also be used for general
recruiting and not just events.

All: Agreed.

7. AC Board Positions

Madam Chair: So, for the AC Board Positions we have one position coming open. Be vigilant
y’all because we will need an administrator as Mr. Valme has decided not to continue.

Madam Vice-Chair: So, I am taking the minutes right now, and Denita has volunteered to
alternate and take them at the next meeting. But please someone consider taking the permanent
position of Secretary.

Madam Chair: It’s not a whole lot; you are just typing up what we speak about tonight and we
would like them within 7 days. We want to give you time, but we also have to be timely in getting
them to Cassandra. So please consider that position

8. GA Cities 2026

Madam Chair: So GA Cities 2026 is coming up where we select 6 students and 2 Advisory
Chaperones to go to Atlanta. To the GMA Leadership Forum.

Madam Vice-Chair: We already selected the students; the only change now is it going to
officially be myself and Denita as the chaperones?

Madam Chair: We haven’t said that yet, I know she said she wanted to go and then it was
between me and you if you really wanted to go or I can go. If you are just egging to go. She does
need the names immediately.

Sharika Zellars: So are you all still deciding. Decide on who is going.

Madam Vice-Chair: I said I can go. I blocked off the time from work.

Madam Chair: I was just going to go because you went last time, but you can go and I can be
back up if anything changes for either of you.

Madam Vice-Chair: Okay. Denita and myself as Chaperones.

Denita Webb: What are the dates?

Madam Vice-Chair: January 23-January 26, because she registered us for the optional day at the
capital. So, it is from Friday to Monday. Sharika did you confirm with the parents of the students
who are going that they will miss that school day?

Sharika Zellars: Yes, they confirmed and we can provide a school excuse if needed.

Madam Vice-Chair: Do we want to tell them about the students that were selected?

Madam Chair: Yes, lets everyone know.

Sharika Zellars: Gavin, Marcus, Madison, Mackenzy, Laylah & Selah are the 6 students that are
going.

Madam Chair: Those are the 6 that’s going and the two chaperones are Ayesha and Denita and if
anything happens at the last minute and either of you can’t go please let me know and I will go in
your place.

IV. New Business

9. SYC Attendance Roster

Madam Chair: We all have an obligation to make sure we uphold our attendance with this board,
and the new bylaws is 70% attendance and so we now have Track It Forward tool that tracks our
attendance. Ms. Ayesha, can you please go over it. So, every meeting I want to start now going
over it so we need to discuss it and be aware of anyone that is in jeopardy of not meeting their
requirements because the bylaws do say the board has the authority to pretty much recommend to
Mayor and City Council that you be removed from the Board.

Madam Vice-Chair: I guess I will start with the people who are in jeopardy. Really, it’s Mr.
Thomas because you don’t really attend student events or beautification.

Dr. Thomas: That’s always going to be a challenge for me.

Madam Vice-Chair: Okay but now that we have told you just have to going forward make a
decision if this is something that you want to continue to do, because if you are saying you don’t
have the bandwidth then maybe it’s better for you to do similar to what Sharika will recommend
for the students is be a volunteer to free up a space for someone who can be more active on the
Board. Same for Mrs. Carter, you don’t attend beautification however you do balance yours out
by attending majority of the student/city events however you have also missed a few meetings, so
you are also in jeopardy. Prior to our January meeting, I will be emailing out everyone’s status
so you can see where you are and if you feel like you are missing hours I can adjust in the system
as needed.

Joc’Quelyn Carter: I already told you, I will never be at beautification due to health reasons, I
cannot walk, I cannot bend over. I will not be there.
Madam Vice-Chair: Ok. Right. Ok we can move on because those were really the only two
people and Paige also, but he already is not continuing his term. So, we can move on to students.
Everyone else is pretty much okay from an advisory standpoint. Sharika do we have any students
that were in jeopardy?

Sharika Zellars: So we have 14 students, 11 of them are in good standing. We have 1 young lady
and that’s Addison. I am going to have a conversation with her about just being a volunteer vs
staying on as a full member since she will no longer be able to attend any meetings.

Madam Vice-Chair: What was the reason why she can no longer attend meetings?

Sharika Zellars: She picked up another volleyball. Practicing everyday Monday through
Thursday or Monday through Friday and you don’t want to miss one Monday a month. I would
rather her just write a letter to come off the board and just volunteer and we have Track it Forward
to provide the documentation of her hours. She is a junior, so I don’t want to just kick her off, I
would prefer her to reapply in good standing if her schedule frees up. That’s the main one.

Madam Vice-Chair: What about Kaleb?

Sharika Zellars: Kaleb is also in jeopardy but the way the bylaws are set up we will have these
conversations with them and their parents, and they are given the following quarter to correct it
before we make a recommendation for removal. I have also started making sure that all of our
events are also being communicated in the Parent GroupMe as well since Kaleb is a 9th grader and
doesn’t drive so we have to make sure the parents are receiving the information on where the
students need to be so that those that don’t drive aren’t having attendance issues.

Madam Chair: As Sharika said we prefer SYC and AC if you don’t have the bandwidth to just
bow out gracefully because we have given a lot of grace and we don’t want to kick you off, but
we have to follow the bylaws. We can only make a recommendation as a Board and the person
will have to go before Mayor and Council and 9/10 they are going to follow the Bylaws. For the
SYC if a student leaves and we have a great relationship with you its better to bow out gracefully
and then reapply.

Madam Vice-Chair: Or like Sharika said make sure you are making SYC a priority and just not
never showing up for SYC stuff.

Sharika Zellars: Our stuff is open to the public there are so many opportunities to serve. The
benefit of Track it Forward is now we can provide all volunteer hours easily whether you are a
member or just a volunteer from time to time. We always need help. It’s not all or nothing. For
both advisory and students. We want the program to be better, if we are growing the program we
have to be serious about adult supervision, we can’t have 1 adult at events with 20 students. That
won’t work.

Madam Vice-Chair: Can we reconfirm for Saturday since the Tree Lighting date changed so I
know how many students are coming this weekend.

Sharika Zellars: Yes, I will do that.

10. Approved SYC/AC Bylaws Resolution

Madam Chair: I did try and put it in GroupMe and then I emailed the approved Bylaws. So,
everyone please review it because that is what we will be following.

Madam Chair: I also do want to bring to your attention that new terms are now three-year
commitments as mine now expires in 2029. It was for two years, so please keep that in mind when
your renewals come up and you are deciding if you can stay on or not.

Dr. Samuel Valme: I have a question about attendance will we reward students that have perfect
attendance.

Sharika Zellars: Yes, I want to make the senior banquet more robust and incorporate awards for
students to be rewarded. We can decide on the acknowledgement but that is the benefit of Track it
Forward our attendance tracking will be more accurate.

Dr. Samuel Valme: It is important that we acknowledge them in front of their peers.

Madam Chair: Yes, we can do that. Is that all for this discussion?

11. Upcoming Calendar

Madam Chair: Is there anything we want to bring up regarding Upcoming Events

Sharika Zellars: Our next event of course is this Saturday with the Tree Lighting, then we have
the Mayor Swearing In & Gala.

Madam Chair: The Mayor Swearing in was at the Amphitheater and now it’s at Home2Suites in
McDonough.

Madam Vice-Chair: No, it’s in Stockbridge. There will be a shuttle starting at 2:00pm to take
people from the parking to the hotel.

Madam Chair: Then his Gala is on that Saturday. The tickets are $55 and the students have been
invited to go for free. Sharika is providing the list of the students. Let’s run down events.

Sharika Zellars: January, we have Swearing In, Student meeting, then we have the skate party,
then we have the clean up with Councilman Alexander and then the students who are going to GA
cities and we didn’t even include the advisory meeting.

Madam Vice-Chair: Advisory meeting will be third Thursday. Correct.

Madam Chair: Then what do we have in February?

Sharika Zellars: Student Meeting, Area beautification and our retreat.

Madam Vice-Chair: We need to decide on a date for the retreat. The week of the 21st the
students are out of school for their winter break so maybe we do February 28th for the retreat.
Does that work for everyone? Sharika, will you do a save the date to invite Jayden and the City
Manager and Councilman Barry to speak at the retreat since it the focus will be Leadership?

Sharika Zellars: Yes. But I also want to do something to honor Jayden. He will be sworn in. I
think it would be a great idea to do that in February. Then in March we really need to start
planning the Youth Expo. But we need a chair.

Dr. Samuel Valme: How can we pick a chair if we don’t know the dates.

Madam Vice Chair: I can chair it.

Sharika Zellars: It really needs to be a committee that is a huge undertaking, but we do have a
blueprint since this is our 3rd one.

Candis Jones: I can be on the committee.

Denita Minnis: I can too.

Valerie Richmond-Reese: I can also be on the committee.

Madam Vice-Chair: Ok. I will set up GroupMe so that we can start planning.

Candis Jones: I can work on the flyer.

Madam Vice Chair: Well, let’s decide on date. With the calendar as it stands it only makes
sense to do it on Saturday March 21st, does that work for everyone?

All: Agreed.

12. Budget Review/Update

Madam Chair: Budget Review/Update—are there any updates on this item?

Joc’Quelyn Carter: I was not given anything since the $2,386.

Madam Vice-Chair: You weren’t at the last meeting, but we allocated and utilized all those
funds that were remaining for 2025 for new apparel and closet organization.

Joc’Quelyn Carter: We must go back to the vouchers because I am not being included on
purchases that you all are sending to Cassandra so I cannot give an update.

Sharika Zellars: Going back to the vouchers won’t make a difference if you are not replying to
emails. We will start including you, but you will need to reply when Cassandra needs an answer,
sometimes we are being asked to decide quickly to make sure the students have what they need.

Joc’Quelyn Carter: Understood. I will provide the voucher template, and I ask that I just be
included on emails so I can give proper budget update going forward.

Sharika Zellars: I will do this for the January Event and then Ayesha, you will have it to use as a
guideline for the Expo.

IV. Executive Session (if needed)
a. Not required

V. Adjourn
a) Motion: Dr. Samuel Valme
b) Second: Joc’Quelyn Carter
c) In Favor: All present
d) Oppose: None
e) Abstain: None
f) Motion carried
g) Adjourned at 20:15

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