The Merrill-Palmer Institute at Wayne State University is seeking volunteers to help with its 23rd annual Metropolitan Detroit Teen Conference, which will be held on Thursday, Nov. 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom on the main campus in Detroit. The conference will host 300 ninth and 10th graders from more than 50 schools and organizations in metro Detroit.

The purpose of the conference is to bring metro Detroit teenagers together from diverse backgrounds to spend the day discovering what they have in common. The diversity is not limited to race, but also includes economic background, inner-city, suburban and those from public and private schools. The students will be placed into small groups of six to eight people for topical discussions.

That’s where the volunteers come into play. As facilitators, they initiate and monitor the discussions among the students. Those interested need to attend a special training orientation Tuesday, Oct. 17 from 8 a.m. to noon at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center on the campus of Wayne State University. The workshop is free.

There will also be an optional luncheon following the training for $16. Linda V. Parker, executive director of the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, will be the luncheon keynote speaker.

The deadline to register for the workshop and luncheon is Oct. 9. For information on becoming a facilitator call (313) 872-1790. 

Founded by the late Mary-Agnes Davis, the Metro Teen conference is designed to help teenagers understand they make choices in life and provide teens from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to share, learn and understand different points of view.

Wayne State University is a premier institution of higher education offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.


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