Countywide : Red Cross Conference on Cultural Diversity

Local junior high school students will seek to overcome racial and cultural stereotypes at a conference today sponsored by the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross.

“It’s about celebrating differences and discovering similarities,” said Penny Hughes, Red Cross youth services director.

By participating in a series of interactive exercises, the students will learn how to recognize when they are stereotyping or making generalizations about their peers, Hughes said.

Helping with the second annual Spring Youth Conference on Cultural Diversity will be high school students who have graduated from the Red Cross chapter’s Donald Karcher Leadership Development Center.

“We find that a peer-to-peer approach is the most effective,” said Hughes, who expects about 80 junior high students to take part in the conference.

Proceeds from the event will help send two of the chapter’s youth volunteers to the Red Cross National Convention in Tulsa, Okla., on May 19 to 22.

“We have one of the largest and most active youth programs throughout the country within the Red Cross organization,” Hughes said, adding that there are about 2,800 youths involved with the local chapter.

The volunteers, who are mainly in their teens, have assisted the Red Cross during such natural disasters as the recent floods and the Laguna Beach fires. Other youth activities include leadership training sessions and learning how to educate their peers about preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The cultural diversity conference will be from 8 a.m. to noon at the Red Cross Blood Center, 600 N. Parkcenter Drive, in Santa Ana. The registration fee of $10 per student includes lunch.

For more information, call Red Cross youth services at (714) 835-5381, Ext. 491.