GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network is pleased to announce our fifth Student of Color Organizing Conference to be held on January 18th – January 21st 2008 in Atlanta. The Students of Color Organizing (SOCO) Conference, which has been held for the past four years, is one of the most important components of our student organizing work. This event, made possible by a generous grant from the Time Warner Foundation, will gather Middle and High School Students of color from all over the country during the Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend. The mission of this weekend is to provide networking and skills building opportunities to empower young people of color to organize and become engaged in safer schools work. The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network strives to assure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/ expression.
Throughout this weekend we will be providing students with an opportunity to: network with organizers across the country, create action plans for organizing in their communities and look at their work with an anti-oppression lens. The weekend will also provide an opportunity for students and adult allies to network with one another.
Each student, representing diverse communities and from different parts of the country, will arrive at the retreat with an idea for a project which would combine safe schools organizing and communities of color and/or students of color. By the end of the weekend, each student will leave with a plan, using the new information, networks and skill-building from the SOCO Retreat to make their projects come to life!
GLSEN will cover the transportation, lodging and meals throughout the entire weekend. Students will be selected based on their community involvement, safe schools work, organizing background and their commitment to social change. If you are – or know any High/ Middle school student who would like to be considered to attend the summit, please submit an application to us no later than November 19th, 2007.
A complete application must include – a letter of reference/recommendation from a teacher/mentor, a registration on www.studentorganizing.org, a completed application form with essays and availability during the weekend of January 18th – 21st, 2008. We have a limited number of spaces available, so please apply soon! You can also apply athttp://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/2003.html!
For more information on GLSEN please go to www.glsen.org.