The Mysterious School— Can YOU find a way out?

A CHOICE-FILLED ADVENTURE STORY

THE MYSTERIOUS SCHOOL—

Can YOU find a way out?

Written by Students of MR. POPKEY’S FIFTH-GRADE CLASS at MITCHELL ELEMENTARY

FIRST EDITION PRINTED AND BOUND AT 826MICHIGAN

Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books.

All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors.

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect those of 826michigan. We believe in the power of youth voice and are thrilled that you picked up this book. No part of this book may be reproduced without express written permission from the publisher, except for small excerpts for the purposes of review or scholarly study.

By purchasing this book, you are helping 826michigan continue to offer free student programs. For more information, please visit: 826michigan.org

You are under the sea by a deserted island, and you wake up in a hospital bed in a haunted school.

You are lying next to a school desk; the desk is in front of the door and it pushes the door open.

You get up from the hospital and you try to call for help on your phone, but there is no reception.

It is eerie in the school! You see a window in the room and it is raining outside, and then you hear the creaky door moving. You can either jump out of the window into the rain or you can explore through the creepy door.

If you decide to jump out of the window, turn to page 2.

If you decide to explore through the creepy door, turn to page 3.

1

You decide to jump out the window, but because it’s raining, as you try to jump out, you slip. Your foot catches on a pole, which lands you on the first floor of the building. The room has a fireplace and a spin around easy chair. There’s also a desk.

There’s a lot of pictures on the walls and a diploma.

You walk toward the easy chair because it’s spinning. The floor creaks. You turn around toward the fireplace, and the floor is tilted and the walls are tilted.

You hear someone down the hallway, so you peek your head. You think you see the principal coming, but you’re not sure if it’s actually them.

But you have the decision to walk down the hallway or stay in the room.

Then, you hear someone calling your name.

If you decide to walk down the hallway, turn to page 4.

If you decide to stay in the room, turn to page 5.

2

You decide to walk through the creepy door.

A skeleton-clown pops out and chases you! The skeleton-clown has a red clown wig, a red nose, and big shoes. The skeleton-clown’s shirt is torn apart on the right arm, and the other arm is torn completely so you can see the skeleton arm. It looks mad, is yelling, and smells bad.

You run away and see a long tunnel with a small red crawl space door at the end. It has a balloon tied to it. The door is so small that you have to crawl through it. As you crawl through the crawl space, there are pieces of trash and you start to hear clown sounds and a baby crying. It’s very cold and smells old and like a wet dog. You crawl as fast as you can.

You can lock the small red door or you can go back out and fight the skeleton-clown. If you lock it, you will keep out the skeleton-clown, but you will be stuck with the crying baby and no one else can get through.

If you decide to lock the door, turn to page 6.

If you decide to fight the skeleton clown, turn to page 7.

3

The principal walks in and one of his eyes is closed because you slapped him in the eye. The teachers start walking in and then they go into the library, which is very dusty.

You run past the principal. You take him by surprise but once he recovers his senses, he calls for the other teachers. You open a door and see a lot of teachers surrounding you. Then, your heart starts racing and you feel really nervous because you don’t know these teachers. You’re also nervous because all the teachers and principals are ghosts.

You find a book, and it’s a book about the haunted school. You read about how the school became haunted. It became haunted because it burned down a long time ago. That’s why the ghosts are in human form, and they have some burns on them from the fire that burned down the school.

You hear the floor creaking, so you hide behind the tables and bookshelves.

If you choose to hide behind tables, write your own ending.

If you choose to hide behind bookshelves,

write your own ending.

4

(start again at page 1)

You decide to stay in the room and lock the door. You think you’re safe until you hear the key in the door. You look around for something to hide in or under. There are old, cardboard boxes but you choose to go into the closet.

Inside the closet it is tight and full of spiders and spider webs. The principal comes in to check on the boxes. He pulls out stinky, old gym items.

This gives you time to escape. You take a step and the floor creaks. The principal hears you so you start running.

“HEY!” the principal yells. “Get back here!”

Luckily, you open up a door and manage to escape the principal. The new room is dark, and you start panicking. In the shadows, you see five eyes, part of a dark, black monster that smells like garbage.

If you decide to run back into the hallway and risk meeting the principal, write your own ending.

If you decide to talk to the monster, write your own ending.

5

(start again at page 1)

After locking the small red door, you go through a hallway where the baby is crying. It’s a snake baby! The snake baby is lying on the ground and crying. You pick up the snake baby and you see three doors in front of you. One is a door to get out of the school, one has a light behind it, and one has a jungle behind it. You pick the door that leads to the jungle, and a snake jumps out! The snake is green, big, and wraps around you while you’re holding the snake baby. This snake is the snake baby’s mom!

Oh no! You picked the wrong door! But then, you can get a rope. You can swing the rope, then give the snake to its mom in the jungle. They slither off together. Next, you can use the rope to climb to the top of a tree. You can go to the top of the tree to get some WiFi and call the police. But then, your phone dies in the middle of calling for help!

If you eat a snack on the tree, write your own ending.

If you go back to the other two doors and try again,

write your own ending.

6

(start again at page 1)

You go back to fight the skeleton-clown. There is a shovel and a hammer in the crawl space; you can only use one of them. You use the shovel as a shield, but after hours of trying to get to you, the skeleton-clown gets tired and falls asleep.

You then use the shovel to put dirt on his feet and run far away from him. You go back to investigate the baby noise, but it is just a recording.

You get caught in a trap. You’re cornered!

If you try to run away from the skeleton-clown,

write your own ending.

If you stay and try to defend yourself, write your own ending.

7

(start again at page 1)

inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Our writing and tutoring programs uphold a culture of creativity and imagination and support students in establishing strong habits of mind. Through publication and community engagement, we provide students with an authentic and enthusiastic audience for their writing.

Our programs provide an energizing creative outlet for students and meaningful volunteer opportunities for community members. We believe that with one-onone attention from caring adults, students improve their academic performance, develop a sense of belonging, and discover the unique value of their voices.

We also believe that the more fun a student has, and the more directly we speak to a student’s interests, the more we can help students find the fun in learning.

That’s why our programs are more than just extra homework. All of our programs are challenging and enjoyable, and ultimately strengthen each student’s power to express ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voice.

ONLINE LEARNING LAB In the spring of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly transitioned all of our programs online. Our priority is to ensure the safety of our community, while continuing to offer engaging, high-quality opportunities to students. Each of our main programs—Schoolwork Support, Workshops, Field Trips, and In-school Projects—has been reimagined for the virtual space as part of our new Online Learning Lab. For the 2020–21 school year, our programs will remain virtual.

When is it safe to return to our in-person programs, we plan to continue to offer virtual program opportunities as well!

SCHOOLWORK SUPPORT The program formerly-known as tutoring has been given an updated name, but the same great foundations remain. We organize trained volunteer tutors to work with students one-on-one with their homework after school. Schoolwork Support is available for all subjects, for students ages 8–18. Generally, we offer this program at three locations: at our Liberty Street Lab in Ann Arbor, at the Michigan Avenue Branch of the Ypsilanti District Library, and at our Winder Street Lab in Detroit’s Eastern Market, though in-person programs are on pause this year. We have added a Virtual Schoolwork Support program. Students are paired with two tutors to work on assignments for school and writing projects of their choosing.

WORKSHOPS We offer a number of free workshops taught by professional artists, writers, and our talented volunteers. From comic books to screenplays, bookmaking to radio, our wide variety of workshops are perfect for writers of all ages and interests.

One of the most popular workshops we offer is our weekly Wee-bots program for elementary-aged writers.

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS Our trained volunteers go into local public schools every day to support teachers with their classroom writing assignments. Based on the teacher’s curriculum, assignments range from writing tales to crafting college essays to exploring poetry.

In addition, we hold regular Writers Clubs, in which small groups of students are able to work on a writing project over the course of a semester, culminating in a publication. We also partner with schools to hold Family Writing Labs: laughterfilled events in which families to come together and participate in an evening of engaging writing activities and community connection.

FIELD TRIPS Always full of surprises and theatrics (and usually a visit from our crotchety editor, Dr. Blotch), our Field Trip program is an experiential writing extravaganza. We welcome teachers to bring their classes in for field trips during the school day.

Students join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is Dr. Blotch’s insomnia, our looming story deadline, a mystery in need of solving, or one of the many others we encounter. Our field trips always end in a finished publication of original writing that students take home. Often the field trip writing is connected to a second leg of the students’ journey, whether a trip to a museum, library, or local record label, thanks to our many incredible community partners.

OUR STORES Our Robot Supply Co. stores are one-stop shops for robots, robot owners, and enthusiasts alike. They are designed to inspire creativity and bring awareness of our programs to the community. When it is safe to do so again, come visit the Ann Arbor Robot Supply Co. at 115 East Liberty Street in downtown Ann Arbor and the Detroit Robot Supply Co. at 1351 Winder Street in Eastern Market in Detroit. In the meantime, please visit the Robot Supply Co. at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

WRITING IS

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

A way to help us connect to our world

We study the writing we want to do so we can try it We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

A way to help us learn who we are and who we will become

We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world

www.826michigan.org

826 National was inspired to take a stand on issues of inclusion and diversity in light of the many events that spotlighted social and racial injustices throughout the country. We as educators, volunteers, and caring adults need to be aware of the wide range of issues our students face on a day-to-day basis. We need to support these young people as they navigate through and try to make sense of the world and their own identities.

We need the support and the feedback from our community to ensure 826 is living up to these standards.

Through our inclusion statement, our internal diversity and inclusion group, cultural competency resources provided to staff and volunteers, and partnerships with other organizations, we are always working towards being a more inclusive and supportive organization.

We at 826 have the privilege of working with the next generation of scholars, teachers, doctors, artists, lawyers, and writers. It's our job to make sure they are able to take their own stands.

As an organization committed to encouraging youth in their creative expression, personal growth, and academic success, 826 National and its chapters recognize the importance of diversity at all levels and in all aspects of our work. In order to build and maintain the safe, supportive 826 environment in which great leaps in learning happen, we commit ourselves to inclusion: we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, military service, or disability.

The 826 National network is committed to encouraging youth to express themselves and to use the written word to effectively do so. We encourage our students to write, take chances, make decisions, and finish what they start.

And 826 strives to do this in an environment free from discrimination and exclusion.

by Gerald Richards, CEO

826michigan inspires school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

Find out more at 826michigan.org!