Maine Students to Promote Civil Rights at Statewide Conference

April 29, 2010

MEDIA ADVISORY

Maine Students to Promote Civil Rights at Statewide Conference in Augusta

Contact: Thom Harnett, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Education and Enforcement (207) 626-8897, Kate Simmons (207)626-8577

WHAT: Civil Rights Team Project Spring Convention WHERE: Augusta Civic Center WHEN: Monday, May 3, 2010 TIME: 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM

On Monday, May 3, 2010 over 1,100 students and faculty members from 83 Maine elementary, middle and high schools will gather at the Augusta Civic Center for the Statewide Conference of the Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP).

The CRTP, a project of the Office of the Attorney General, is a student-led program designed to reduce bias and harassment in Maine?s schools. At the Statewide Conference, students from across Maine will attend workshops designed to increase their understanding of bias-based harassment and ways to confront it.

Speakers will include Attorney General Janet T. Mills and Czerny Brasuell, Director of Multicultural Affairs at Bates College.

Workshops will include survivors of the European Holocaust and the Sudanese Darfur genocide telling their stories, civil rights and Native American leaders examining the power of language in our schools, athletes from the Maine Roller Derby discussing how sports can redefine gender roles and domestic violence counselors teaching students how to avoid abusive relationships.

A complete conference agenda is available on request.

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