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NEWS SERVICES |
| For immediate use |
Oct. 31, 2003 -- No. 577 |
Greater Triangle Area residents to learn how area compares to rest of the state
CHAPEL HILL -- On Nov. 6, residents of Chatham, Durham, Johnston, Lee, Moore, Orange, and Wake counties will have the opportunity to shape the future of citizenship in North Carolina by participating in the Greater Triangle Area Community Forum in Raleigh. The forum will be held from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. at the Wake County Commons Building, off Poole Road, and the public is invited. Complimentary dinner and dessert will be served. Students, local leaders, educators, and concerned citizens are encouraged to attend this important event. For reservations for the event, please email
pdexter@iogmail.iog.unc.edu.Forum participants will learn how the greater Triangle area compares to the rest of the state in civic education and engagement. Such regional comparisons include findings that youth in the greater Triangle area are the most likely to report socializing with a person of a different race or culture over the past year. Young people in the greater Triangle area are also the most like to report volunteering 4 or more times over the past year, while they are the least likely to report talking about their volunteer experiences in their classes.
Small group discussions will focus on statewide and regional results from the North Carolina Civic Education Consortium's Civic Index 2003, the first-ever statewide assessment of youth and adult civic education and engagement. Forum participants will learn about statewide and regional results of the Civic Index and existing youth civic engagement programs in their area and then brainstorm community-specific strategies to improve civic engagement. Additional information on the forums, including directions to the site, can be found at the Consortium's website, www.civics.org.
Seven other forums have taken place throughout the state this fall. Because the Civic Education Consortium will not be able to reach all of North Carolina's municipalities through the forums, the Consortium will publish a Community Forum Tool Kit, which is a how-to guide for communities to host their own community forums. These tool kits will be available in winter 2003.
The forums were planned by a group of local organizers and the North Carolina Civic Education
Consortium, a statewide nonpartisan partnership housed at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The forums have been generously funded by the following county governments: Durham County, Johnston County, Orange County and Wake County, as well as state and national foundations such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.- 30 -
Contact: Leslie Anderson, Special Consultant to the Consortium, 828-252-4913, lesliea@ioa.com; Kelley O’Brien, Civic Index Project Director, Civic Education Consortium, 919-843-0664,
obrien@iogmail.iog.unc.edu;