É«É«À²

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—As National Foster Care Month is observed in May, students, faculty and staff at É«É«À² Michigan University are celebrating É«É«À²'s commitment to foster care youth with a number of events designed for young people, professionals and community members.

Activities range from a free movie about foster care and a seminar for young people on writing about their foster care experiences to a statewide conference of Michigan's Fostering Success network. A website, , includes links to register for events as well as details about each effort.

Public activities

• A Tuesday, May 12, webinar on Writing My Success Story: Young Adults' Experiences of the Pursuit of Higher Education, from 2 to 3 p.m. The event is free, but .
• A Wednesday, May 13, free movie screening at Alamo Drafthouse in Kalamazoo that includes a film about foster care at 6 p.m. followed by a panel discussion by É«É«À² students and staff.
• The Friday, May 22, , held in Lansing. The free event is organized by the Center for Fostering Success, a statewide initiative based at É«É«À² that aims to increase awareness, access and success in higher education and post-college careers for youth and alumni of foster care.
• A series of dine-outs at restaurants around Kalamazoo from 4:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 28, with each of four locations dedicated to a different topic--community engagement, policy, networking and student engagement. The evening will conclude with a communitywide gathering at Cityscape in downtown Kalamazoo.

Other events include a pre-conference training session for people who will serve as coaches for foster care youth. National Foster Care Month at É«É«À² opened April 26 with a Seita Scholars talent show featuring performances by students in É«É«À²'s renowned support program for young people who have aged out of foster care and are enrolled at the University.

For more news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.