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Thursday, December 1, high-school age youth from across the Texoma area will have the opportunity to participate in the annual Youth Diversity Conference hosted by North Texas Youth Connection. The conference will be held at First United Methodist Church, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Diversity is designed to allow students to explore differences such as gender, race, culture, and disability to gain a better understanding of things other people experience.
The event will begin with registration at 8:30 a.m., followed by welcome and splitting the attendees into groups, each being assigned a challenge to work with throughout the day, such as visual impairment, not being able to speak, or being confined to a wheelchair. Gene Cambridge of Rainbow Days will speak on the topic “What is Culture?”. Other workshops will include “Dimension of Diversity”, “Power of Expectation”, and “Becoming Culturally Sensitive”. The day will wrap up with a survey to gauge what students have learned and door prizes. Breakfast, lunch and a snack are provided. There is not cost for students to attend.
Any high school student from the area may apply to participate in the conference. Attendees are chosen based upon their response to questions on the application, being in good standing at the school, as well as a letter of recommendation from their school counselor. Most of the area schools support this conference and allow their students the day off to participate. Applications are available from area high school counselors, on the agency website at www.ntxyouthconnection.org/outreach/diversityap, or by contacting the Outreach Department at (903) 893-4717. Deadline for applications to be returned to North Texas Youth Connection is November 15. Students selected to participate will be notified by November 22.
North Texas Youth Connection, formerly Juvenile Alternatives, is a private 501(c)3 nonprofit, founded in 1979 to address the needs of runaway and homeless youth. Services offered have expanded and modified to keep up with the ever-changing needs of youth and their families. Through counseling services for youth, short-term emergency youth shelter and outreach programs, North Texas Youth Connection helps youth and families get through crisis situations, learn new skills and build on their strengths in order to be a strong, healthy family.