A county-wide Summit on intervention and prevention strategies to address bullying in Washtenaw County and area schools will be held on Sunday, January 9, 1:00 to 4:00 pm, in the Curtis Room of the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, 1432 Washtenaw Avenue. The Summit is sponsored by the newly renamed Jim Toy Community Center, formerly the Washtenaw Rainbow Action Project (WRAP), and will be convened by longtime Ann Arbor activist Jim Toy.

Jay Kaplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan's LGBT Legal Project, will make opening comments. The Rev. Joe Summers, Vicar of Ann Arbor's Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, will facilitate the meeting.

Prompted by recent, nationally-publicized bullying incidents that have resulted in teen suicides, the Summit's goal is to define and initiate a set of action steps to reduce the level of harassment experienced by students in area schools. “Every indication is that our newly-elected officials in Lansing will not place bullying on the legislative agenda," Toy said. “This means the issue must be addressed at the local level.”

Toy regularly provides workshops on diversity concerns, especially TBLGQ issues, and on peacemaking dialogue. He currently serves as the secretary of the Oasis TBLG Outreach Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan and was formerly diversity coordinator in the University of Michigan's Office of Institutional Equity.

For additional information, contact April Gunder, agunder@surovell.com.