About 826michigan

About the Program

This book contains writing from 826michigan’s New Monuments virtual field trip program. During this program, students explore what a monument is and can be, dreaming up new possibilities for local ways to honor heroes and specialties, from the playful (coney dogs and magical creatures) to the serious (activists and abolitionists). In collaboration with 826michigan volunteers, students envision and draw these new possibilities, and then write about why they think their new monuments should be built. This project is based on the work by student writers at our sister chapter 826 New Orleans and their publication Courageous, Eccentric, Diverse: New Monuments for New Orleans.

Group 1

Hello! We’re a group of children from Ann Arbor Open School. Kids have done some really great things to try to change the world. They have cleaned up trash and pollution to help the earth. Kids also help adults feel better - they’re always there to help them. A monument to kids could be a statue made of copper or clay. There would be three similar looking children who are actively cleaning up trash. We would like to ask the mayor if he can make a monument to children. It would be a unique monument!

A monument to Jennifer

Group 2

Jennifer, our teacher, makes our world go round. She helps all of us get on Zoom and learn. She is helping us in third and fourth grade. She helps us do math. She helps us be quiet in the halls as we’re walking to specials. She lets us have special parties with pizza. She helps us be able to read and write. She makes up awesome writing prompts. One of our favorites was “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” Another one was “If you could go to the moon or the bottom of the ocean, which would you choose?” She literally helps people and is so kind. She has band-aids and masks just in case you need them. She really makes our world go round -- especially this year. She’s one of the people we see every day. She has a bean bag chair in the classroom she lets us sit on and a couch. She has tons of fun games to play and she always keeps the art area stocked with paper and always gets more if we need it. She has lots of great books in her library. If we make an accident, she never gets mad. Like if a pencil bin falls, she never gets mad. We get points, called puffles, and if we get enough points, we get to have a party, and that’s not something every teacher does. During work period, she lets us have a “low hum” where we don’t have to be completely silent. We also get choice time where we get to play fun stuff. It’s sort of like recess inside. Sometimes, it gets really loud. She also lets us go on computers every other day for choice time and she lets us do presentations. If we don’t have it completely done on the day, she doesn’t get mad. She lets us bring toys and stuffed animals to school. She lets the hot lunches go first because they’re the farthest away. She lets us leave a little early for lunch.

Jennifer, our teacher, is one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. She’s been our first and second-grade teacher, and now she’s our fourth grade teacher because she moved up. Some of us have only had her for less than one year, but she deserves THREE monuments, not one.

The monument should be a picture of her, and one should be an apple. The picture of her could have a purple dress and a purple bow in her straight, short, rich black hair because purple’s her favorite color. In every picture, she has a smile. The monument should be something that represents her.

A monument to the Importance of Teachers & Being Safe at School During the COVID Pandemic

Group 3

Did you know that getting the vaccine and wearing masks at school can protect our community! Even though it can be hard to do, it is important to do it. Wearing a mask, social distancing, keeping groups small, can help slow or even stop the spread of Covid. Teachers like Jennifer and principals like Karen set a good example for students. Karen sets guidelines to follow in school hallways. Schools take extra safety measures at school, such as one-way stairways and touch-less things like light switches and sinks. We suggest creating a monument of a teacher wearing a mask, holding a vaccine in one hand and hand sanitizer in the other hand.

Design Your Own Monument

WHO or WHAT would you like to memorialize?

Opening sentence to hook the reader’s attention:

What are some facts to support your proposal?

Share your feelings about why the proposed monument is important.

Describe your vision of the monument. Where would it be located? What does it look like? What is it made of?

Conclusion to support your proposal:

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.

ONLINE LEARNING LAB

For the 2021–22 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.

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 elementaryaged 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.

FIELD TRIPS

Students come as a class to our writing lab to join a group of volunteers, interns, and staff in order to help solve a problem through writing—whether that is our editor 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.

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. Please visit us online 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

A way to help us connect to our world

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

A way for us to use our power to make changes and build a better world We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking) 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 We work with a group of writers who help and support each other

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