Normal is Everything We Are, and Strive to Be

On February 3, 2012 the St. Clair Shores Youth Diversity Council (SCSYDC) hosted the three high schools of St. Clair Shores and Jefferson middle school youth at Lakeshore YMCA for a diversity youth summit.

In attendance were 35 students who came to learn more about diversity topics such as structural racism, sexual orientation and disability rights. The SCSYDC facilitated three workshops created by the regional youth interns of the Michigan Roundtable last summer. These workshops had interactive activities like role plays and YouTube videos that explored the topics in a way that engaged the participants to think differently than they normally were required to think about things.

The overall theme of the Summit was "What is Normal?" and the SCSYDC made sure that the students understood throughout the Summit that normal is everything we currently are and everything we strive to be.

The SCSYDC will be working soon in St. Clair Shores to continue the tradition of participating in the Memorial Day Parade.   If you would to work with these great youth preparing SCS for another great float valuing the diversity of the community please contact Stacey Stevens or make a donation here.

Our work to make St. Clair Shores a more welcoming community for all its citizens is being driven in large part by the St. Clair Shores Youth Diversity Council, which is a community facilitated group of young people responding to the growing diversity in their predominately white community. On a weekly basis the council meets to do team building activities, learn about issues of diversity such as structural racism, disability rights and maintain a presence in the community through the Martin Luther King Celebration and participation in projects such as the intergenerational Green Chair Project and Memorial Day Parade. The Council also has a growing number of adult volunteers who support the youth in their planning and preparations for engaging the community.