RALEIGH - More than 100 Millbrook High School students stayed after school on a balmy Wednesday afternoon. While their peers may have spent the hours in club meetings, or chorus rehearsals or athletic practices, these teens came to learn more about the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.

They invited U.S. Rep. Brad Miller, who brought slides from his recent trip to the Sudanese nation. It was the latest in a dozen activities that the Darfur Awareness Club has sponsored since it was founded by Millbrook students four years ago. And it's just one of numerous events held throughout the Triangle by similar groups at other high schools and colleges.

Interest in the northern region of Sudan known as Darfur has taken off among young people across the Triangle. Students at nearly every high school in the area have formed a club devoted to ending the genocide that has pitted African and Arab tribes of Darfur against each other.

"It's become a trend," said Nina Gandhi, an Enloe High School student and the state's high school outreach coordinator for the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition. "Kids my age are very in tune with what's happening on that continent."

The students, galvanized by atrocities shown in documentaries and on Web sites, YouTube and other media, are not only staying after school. They're learning how to protest, raise money, call their elected representatives, and work with college students to raise awareness of the conflict.

"I was more of a drama student before this," said Lisa Huynh, president of the Darfur Awareness Club at Millbrook. "Now I'm a big activist."

Among the newly minted activists, terms such as ethnic cleansing, displaced people's camp and janjaweed, -- referring to the Arab militias responsible for much of the carnage -- roll easily off the tongue.

"They're very aware of what's going on, not only in Darfur but in Northern Uganda," said Miller, a Democrat who represents the Piedmont region in Congress. "I hope they take responsibility for what's happening across the world for the rest of their lives."

During his 45-minute talk, Miller answered a host of tough questions from the students, who wanted to know: "Why is it so hard for the international community to act?" and "Why don't we just send some of our troops?"

Millbrook's Darfur Awareness Club has packed meals for refugees in neighboring Chad, and hosted a Darfur Awareness Leadership Forum, to help other schools get involved.

At Enloe, a similar group was able to raise $13,000 last year for a school in northern Uganda that shelters children from conscription in militias.

Many of these students started out with no knowledge about Africa or about the tribal conflicts there. But after seeing graphic photos of the rampages in Darfur and documentaries on the subject, they were motivated to take action.

"I was shocked," said Martamique Ajoku, a senior at Millbrook who learned about Darfur several years ago. "I couldn't believe this was going on."

It has helped that celebrities, including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Don Cheadle, have been active in raising public awareness about the atrocities in the region.

But there is a very serious edge to these students' concerns. They know the statistics and they spit them out often: 450,000 people killed, and at least 2 million forced to flee burned and looted villages in the Darfur region.

Infected with youthful optimism, they're convinced that help can come only from greater awareness.

"Being indifferent or apathetic is worse than being ignorant," said Natalie Cilem, a senior at Enloe. Her advice to other students? "If all you do is tell your mom and dad at dinner tonight -- that's fine. Spread the word. Stay informed. That's how stuff gets to Washington."