Starting Out in a New World by 826michigan

Writing Writing by by

826michigan Virtual Schoolwork Support Students 2020-21

Writing by

826michigan Virtual Schoolwork Support Students 2020-21

826 National’s Commitment to Inclusion 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 of learning occur, we commit to inclusion: We will not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, immigration status, military service, or disability. 826michigan Staff Dr. Naimah Wade, Executive Director Judy Tipton, Development Director Catherine Calabro Cavin, Education Director Frances Martin, Operations Director Megan Gilson, Program Manager Michael Spaeth, Development & Communications Coordinator Caitlin Koska, Spring & Summer Program Coordinator

Copyright © 2021 by 826michigan and Blotch Books. All rights reserved by 826michigan, the many whims of Drs. T & G Blotch, and the authors. Cover art © Can Stock Photo / nusha777 Pixel icons created by Caz Wolf, available on itch.io Design and layout by Robyn Charles 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

Also published by 826Michigan Young Authors Book Project The Book of Many Wisdoms Because No One Else Could Do It In Our Defense—The Defense Project In the Clouds Over Ypsilanti A Moment to Remember Rare Air / Aire raro A Lantern of Fireflies Where Is It Coming From? Enjoy! Recipes for Building Community All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School What to Call the Place I Call Home: Voices of 26 Ypsilanti Middle School Students 2020: Visions of the [Near] Future Don’t Stay Up So Late How to Rise Or, I Put My Heart into the Close Tall Tales & True Stories Suddenly My Heart Stopped for Just a Small Portion of Time: Defining Moments OMNIBUS 826michigan OMNIBUS 1 826michigan OMNIBUS 2 826michigan OMNIBUS 3 826michigan OMNIBUS 4 826michigan OMNIBUS 5 826michigan OMNIBUS 6

826michigan OMNIBUS 7 826michigan OMNIBUS 8 826michigan OMNIBUS 9 826michigan OMNIBUS X 826michigan OMNIBUS 11 826michigan OMNIBUS 12

contents Acknowledgments..................................................

Introduction.......................................................... vii

Ella Yip .............................................................. 1

Women's Rights

David Abrams ..................................................... 3

Minecraft: Starting Out in a New World

Rihito Tsuruzono............................................... 3

Bird Legends Mission: Achieve a Victory Royale

Elona Ziegler and Ofelia Ziegler.................... 4

3002 Cats ~The Year 5046~

Hanako McDonald ............................................. 5

Akia and the Nine-tailed Fox

Ian Robinson..................................................... 10

The Escape of Mr. Pavato

Xavier Sánchez-Miranda ............................... 11

The Day I Became Famous (Kinda)

Abeer Otaifah and Mohammed Otaifah........... 11

Perseverance

Raneem Saleh.................................................. 12

The Adventures with Bella and Maya and Jake and Sam

Dominique Berry .............................................. 15

The Animal Adventures

J’Lah Smith....................................................... 16

Ice Cream Learns How to Fly

Madison Hopkins............................................... 17

Madison Saving the Savanna!

Joan Nunez. ...................................................... 18

Ode to Spring Break Summer Spark July Disco Fiasco Birthday Battle Water Spring Rap and Brag

Kaden Curry . .................................................. 22

Letter to Joe Biden

Angela Maton................................................. 22

That Ugly, Mean Queen

Tanushka Hariharan....................................... 23

Esmeralda and the Abandoned House

Mia Lynette Keefer........................................ 24

The Pencil

Aaliyah Holt.................................................... 24

Diana's Birthday

Kai’C Haynes . .................................................. 26

The Elements

Julian Wheatley ............................................. 31

Protecting the Springbok

Noah Marcanthony ......................................... 31

Everfell

Alana Smith..................................................... 32

Living in the Rainforest

Writing Core Values..............................................

About 826michigan................................................

The 826 Stand......................................................

Acknowledgments Copyeditors

Jonathan Townley, Editorial Intern

Winter 2021 VSS Tutors Reshma Desai Emily Bergstrom Jim Ottaviani Julia Kanter Hannah Knoll Arim Lee Billie Ochberg Leah Gowatch Nasser Junedi Jesse Wilcox Lindsay Gallagher Alison Diaz-Mercado Amanda Victory Adrien Hartigan Aubrianna Wickings Margaret Clark Atiya Farooque Sophia Bailey Mihnea Frincu Kathryn Black Ashley Zhang Halle Zelin Arianna Afonso Victoria Beacham Isaac Mooney Ally Roberts Kaitlin Werden Jenny Gurung Grace Thornley Maggie Crunk Sarah Nassiri Parth Shah

YDL Staff

Joy Cichewicz Pat Mitchell Jenny Hannibal

Interns

Em Liker

Mahima Srikanth Eva Hale Nicholas Lee Maisha Massey Isabella Schilling Tiarra Abbott Rachel Anderson Amy Ewing Anna Beson Jacquelyn Kinder Rajmund Niwinski Nora Khanal Lawrence Jia Sarah Allen Troy Lemieux Siobhan Stemme Semia Clay Constantine Souliotis Krystal Webb Nadine Srour Will Kett Dayna Lim Shelby Baker Catherine Kraus Jonathan Wang Mary Deirdre Casey Madison Memering Allison Siegel Nick Etsios Rayya Harb Graham Dallas Mackenzie Gammons

Samantha Bekemeyer Jessica Parker Sandy Ellender Yusra Mahmood Pete Westhead Olivia Neiman Jacob Levine Ruohao Li Erin Pilbeam Dylan Selkin Pat Gold Andrew West Marissa J Weber Connie Powers Julia Haas Xinyu Chen Sai Sravani Sure Jamaal Shaikh Maggie Clark Lily Grantham Emily Teh Jackson Schwartz Hemeng “Cathy” Zhu Kunal Sharma Angela Yoon Vanessa Soriano Reyan Manchanda Ryan Jones Amanda Ruud Lara Orkun Emily Lynne DeLine Sofia Lopiano

Mary Garboden Stacey Palazzolo Nicole Russell

Liz Getty Jodi Krahnke Liz Pitcher

Phaedra Nyman

Kelly Souza

School partners

University Preparatory Academy–Ellen Thompson

Kyra White

Ali Gross

Michael Johnson

Robin Birdsong

Carpenter Elementary/Ann Arbor Public Schools

Nancy Shore

Kelly Scott Jaclyn Morrow Psyche Jetton

Pooja Balani Lydia Forhan Katherine Vannoy Surbhi Neole Micah Williamson Raina Kansagra Ashley Wefel Allie Beach Karley Misek Ahmad Kadri Rachel Kroll Nancy Wayne Adhithi Keerthana Athikumar Katie Fox Haley St. Louis Hyunsoo Ryu Blake Pradko Micah Williamson Annie Klinger Sadie Spees Lawrence Smith Janet Goldwasser Mediha Rovcanin Romir Patel Rose Bandvar Meichen Zhu Sean Harris Beverly Fu Vera Newman

Maddy Brown

Introduction In Spring 2020 we reimagined our After-school Tutoring program as Virtual Schoolwork Support, a part of our new Online Learning Lab, so that we could provide this program to students safely and remotely. This virtual program pairs students with two tutors in Zoom breakout rooms for support on a school or writing assignment. Just like our regular program, this virtual learning space is designed to support students with schoolwork or writing projects that they are currently working on. Our tutors provide a lot of enthusiasm, encouragement, coaching, respect, and collaboration as students navigate their projects. During the 2020–21 school year, we collaborated with the Ypsilanti District Library, Carpenter Elementary in Ann Arbor, and University Preparatory Academy—Ellen Thompson Campus in Detroit to provide the highest quality virtual support. The writing in this publication was all created by students who were engaging in our daily writing practices, using prompts created by interns, staff, and fellow students. Get ready to have your imagination expanded, your heart filled, and your perspectives broadened by our students’ powerful words and ideas!

Ella Yip

Age 13 | Scarlett Middle

Women's Rights Women’s rights. When you think of women’s rights, do you think about the women’s suffrage movement? Do you wonder about all of the events that happened in between, like how women of color gained the right to vote, or the women’s rights that have changed or haven’t changed today? Maybe the important people who were involved in the movement? Do you know the problems facing women today, and the change that is happening? What the 2017 Women’s March symbolized and the making of it? The start of the women’s suffrage movement, and important women of color who started suffrage movements? Important issues that women face today, in employment, and change that is happening in response to these problems? How have women’s rights changed? And what still needs to be changed? The women’s suffrage movement was started in the mid-19th century in the U.S.A. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott held the first Seneca Falls event in New York in 1848 from July 19 to July 20. At this event, the Declaration of Sentiments was brought together. The Declaration of Sentiments included the goals of the women’s suffrage movement. The Declaration of Sentiments and the Seneca Falls Convention began the women’s suffrage movement. The women’s suffrage movement was the struggle of white women to get the right to vote. The women’s suffrage movement ended when the 19th Amendment passed on August 26, 1920. When the 19th Amendment passed and white women could vote around eight million white women voted for the first time in their lives. An important figure in the women’s suffrage movement was Ida B. Wells. Ida B. Wells was an African American activist, who fought to register Black people, both men and women, to vote. She co-owned a newspaper and wrote for it until it was destroyed by a white mob. Ida began a suffrage movement, which later became part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Ida had to march in the back during a march, but ran to the front of the march when it began. Ida started several women’s organizations and did public speaking tours. Ida B. Wells passed away on March 25, 1931.

Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was a Chinese advocate who fought for the vote for women of color. At sixteen, she was participating in suffrage marches and was an activist for women’s rights. Mabel was also the first Chinese woman to get an economics Ph.D. When Mabel passed at seventy years old, it is still unknown if she ever got a chance to vote in America. Not only was Trump’s inauguration held on January 21, but a woman named Teresa Shook started a march from a Facebook page that sparked the world. In the march, many can be seen wearing pink cat-eared hats, called “pussycat hats,” in response to the comments made by Trump in an interview before January 20. World-wide, there were about four to seven million who participated in the march, spanning from all of the continents, including Antarctica, and participation in six hundred cities in the U.S.A. The Women’s March did not only represent women’s rights but also anti-Trump, pay and gender equality, affordable health care, environmental awareness, LGBTQIA+, reproductive freedom, and civil rights. Inequities that women in employment face today include not getting paid equally to men, and not advancing in their field of work such as not getting promotions or raises as much as their male co-workers. These inequalities are called the glass ceiling. To break the glass or concrete ceiling means a woman assumes a position that is usually predominantly male, like Vice President Kamala Harris. The concrete ceiling is the term used for women of color because they have a much harder time breaking through the ceiling. Another form of discrimination that shows up in employment for women is discrimination against pregnant women, who can get fired for simply being pregnant. This discrimination is a product of a stereotype that is against the fact that mothers should not work. Change that is being made is, for example, the 2017 Women’s March in D.C.; there was participation in many cities and continents, with millions of participants. There are activists like Bob Bland who helped plan the march, and Teresa Shook who started the Facebook page that bloomed into the march. Women’s rights have come a long way in America, from the women’s suffrage movement, with Ida B. Wells, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Susan B. Anthony, to the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, D.C. There are activists like Bob Bland, Teresa Shook, and Gloria Steinem. The woman’s suffrage movement was successful in getting the vote for white women. The march in 2017 was a statement that showed many causes. And the activists in the 19th

century worked toward women’s rights. “Women’s rights are human rights,” was written by a lot of the saints that attended the 2017 Women’s March. Think about the people who had the determination to begin, things such as marches, suffrage movements, and fighting for the vote and how that led to the fight for women’s rights.

David Abrams

Age 7 | Burns Park Elementary

Minecraft: Starting Out in a New World I woke up in the middle of a savanna. Starting out in a new world, I check to see if I have all my equipment. I say, “Ugh, I don’t have enough Eyes of Ender.” Heading to the southeast, I hope to find a forest to set up a base. Instead, I run into a large group of husks! This is going to be trouble. I ready my enchanted diamond sword, ready for a fight, and get my canteen of milk ready in case I get poisoned. Also, my enchanted diamond armor will keep me safe. I quickly defeat most of the husks. But the one left scratches me, and I can feel the poison in my body. I have to keep jumping back to keep from getting hit while I recover. I quickly know that I have milk. I keep moving back until I feel healthy again. Swiping my sword at the last husk, I am victorious!!!!!!! Getting out my pickaxe, I start mining to get some materials. I’m going to need to make an anvil to repair my diamond sword. As everyone knows, swords that don’t have the unbreaking enchantment break quickly.

Rihito Tsuruzono

Age 9 | Livingston Classical Academy

Bird Legends There was a green bird that lived by the ocean. The bird could not swim. His friend, Umbrella Guy, was there to help him. They collected many colorful beads from the ocean. Then they went home to get something to eat from the refrigerator. They ate everything. Then, they went to sleep. In the morning they made a rainbow dome from the beads they had found. It is a very big dome that almost touched the sun. Next they went to the market and ate everything there. Then they slept for 1000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000 years. They became legends. They died and turned into the biggest island in the ocean. The island was shaped like food.

Mission: Achieve a Victory Royale A deadly storm approached the Fortnite Island. Mancake sat there, eating pringles. He was chomping pretty loud. All of a sudden, with the crunch of the last chip, Mancake fell into a deep slumber. Mancake quickly began to snore, alerting Mandalorian. Mandalorian walked over and aggressively shook Mancake awake. Mancake awoke, happy to see his friend. The two got up and rushed over to Haunted Hills. When they arrived, they met Lexa and Predator. Then they met Pug in another town.

Elona Ziegler and Ofelia Ziegler

Age 11 and Age 13 | Wines Elementary and Forsythe Middle

3002 Cats “Congratulations, Karen, for curing COVID,” said the president. “Here’s your forty-five trillion dollars.” Karen shook the hand of the president then walked off the stage, cheers following her footsteps. Karen stopped to sign many autographs on her way to her apartment suite. There she placed her forty-five trillion dollars in a safe behind a photograph of her cat. She then took down the cat calendar beside the portrait and replaced it with the year 2023.

~The Year 5046~ Barbara sat in her leopard-print mansion sipping tea and knitting a sweater. She was looking out the top window of her fifteen-story mansion down at the Dog Empire and at her oh-so troubled daughter, Barb Jr., who lived in an adjacent mansion filled with her dogs. Barbara and Barb Jr. were sent to Mars years ago to control the escalating population of cats and dogs. Not just ordinary cats and dogs: mutant, GIANT cats and dogs who no longer fit on planet Earth. Although Barbara and Barb Jr. are mother and daughter, they had a rivalry based on their opposite opinions on which animals are best. They both inherited a large sum of money from a woman who cured COVID. They bickered often about where the money should be put toward. Barb Jr. wanted the money for expansions to the Dog Empire, but Barbara wanted the money for yarn to make sweaters for her 3002 cats. Barbara wanted the money also for cat food, cat toys, cat treats, scratching posts, and tree houses. Barb Jr. needed dog houses, food, bones, more yard space, and

fake fire hydrants. They were at war over which money went where. It’s Tuesday morning, Barb Jr. decides to call her mother on the account that the dogs have chewed up all of their toys and are now restless. The phone rings four times before Barbara picks up. “This is her majesty, the cat queen. State your name.” Barb Jr. rolls her eyes and declares, “Barbara, I’ve run out of dog toys.” “Oh, that’s great,” Barbara says, distracted by a cat eating her couch. “No, it’s not really. My dogs are bored and won’t stop barking,” Barb Jr. states to her mother. Barbara takes less than a second to respond, “Well, not my problem,” before slamming the phone down. To be continued . . .

Hanako McDonald

Age 11 | Ann Arbor Open

Akia and the Nine-tailed Fox Hi, my name is Akia, and let me tell you about my life . . . Once upon a time, there was a place high up in the mountains where magical animals lived. There are other animals but mostly foxes. Not like foxes that walk on all four legs, foxes that are like half human and half fox. A fox can have powers due to their tails. Here, let me explain better. A fox with one tail is a common fox. It has no powers. A fox with two tails means that they have two powers. A fox with three tails has three powers. A fox with five tails is uncommon and has five powers and so on. This type of tail and power thing is with every animal except for humans and one-tailed foxes. The highest and strongest rank is a fox with nine tails. A nine-tailed fox is legendary. Some people think they are not even alive. OK, let’s continue with the story. BEEP BEEP BEEP I woke up from my bed and stopped the alarm. It was 7:00am, time for school! I slipped on my school uniform, brushed my white hair, ate toast, and opened my door, ready to go. I felt like I was forgetting something. Oh well.

I stepped out of my house. My house is on top of a hill with a forest of bamboo behind it. In the long trail of bamboo, there is a temple where a god lives. I go pray to the god every day because I think there is a spirit of a nine tail fox inside. I don’t know why but my body just says there’s a nine tail fox spirit living in the temple. Ah! School! I forgot. I rush to school. When I get there it’s 7:30. I still have thirty minutes until school starts. “Hi Akia!” It’s my friends Juliet, Maya, and Olivia. Juliet and Olivia are foxes and Maya is a deer. Olivia has five tails and Juliet has three tails. Maya is wearing a different uniform because she is a different animal than me and my other friends. (She hasn’t grown her antlers because she is still too young.) “Hi guys,” I say. “Ready for high school!” “Yep,” they all say. That’s right. Today is my first day of East High School. There is a West School. They are mean and always want to take over the good school, where I am, to become stronger. They also hunt down nine tail foxes because they worry that someday the nine tail foxes will take over. There are some spies from the bad school that might go to the good school to see what we’re up to. We only have twenty minutes, so we all go inside. We find our lockers and put our stuff in. We only have fifteen minutes, so we all walk to class. I look at my paper to see what class I’m in. Class A-B. “Yay! We’re in the same class!” said Maya. We said bye to our other friends who were not in the same class. While we were walking in the hallway to class, we passed four girls and one boy. I accidentally stepped on the front girl’s foot who was talking to her friends. “Oh—I’m sorry I didn’t mea—” “Oh my gosh, are you blind?!” It was a dark demon. Dark demons usually have an attitude like that. “I was trying to say sorry,” I said. “Yeah?! And how is that gonna fix my brand new shoes I just got?!” Maya’s ears went down. When a creature’s ears go down it usually means it’s scared or it’s depressed or stressed out.

“Maya, everything’s gonna be OK,” I said to her softly. “YEAH?! And how is that gonna fix MY BRAND NEW SHOES I JUST GOT?!” I started to get annoyed at her. “Look, I don’t want to cause trouble here . . . so I’m just gonna go now, bye.” But right when I was going to go, I heard, “UGH gang, go get her?!” I guess she is the boss (a scary one). There were two wolves, one tiger, a black cat, and a dog. Right when the four people behind her stepped out, a door opened from the far corner. It was class A-B. “If you’re in class A-B then come in. Other than that, be more quiet or else you’re going to get in trouble.” Phew! We were in luck. Me and Maya when into class. Maya stepped on the demon’s foot. “Hey—” the demon was about to yank Maya’s hair but the teacher did an evil face at her, and she stopped. “Oops—I’m sorry,” said Maya. I gave the demon a smirk and we went into class. The demon whispers, “You will regret this . . . ” When a dark demon’s horns glow red, it means the demon is very mad. (I have done a lot of research on animals.) The devil’s horns were very red. It looked like she was going to explode, haha! After the class settled down and the class introduced themselves, the first magic class started. “Hello. My name is Miss Crystal. I will be your magic teacher from now on.” She is a blue dragon. “We will be trying to summon our magic in our hand.” She told everyone how to do it. Maya closed her eyes and concentrated. She held her hand out and a green and white flame came out. “Good job, Maya. It’s your turn next Akia.” I tried. Nothing. I have been trying for six years but nothing, nothing, nothing. I don’t know why. That’s why I hate magic class. “Hmm. Maybe try harder next time.” I moaned. I have NEVER shown my true power before. After class, a girl came over to me and tapped my shoulder. It was a bunny. “H—hi. My name is Lilly. I saw you fighting off those bullies over there. I—you’re strong so . . . c—can I be your friend?” Maya smiled. “Yeah, sure. You sit with us and our friends at lunch.” I looked at her. Hmmmmmm. There was something fishy with her.

I whispered to Maya, “Hey, I think she’s up to something, so be careful.” “OK?” said Maya. I don’t think she understands me. I mean, a bunny with purple eyes and a dizzy swirl?! Bunnies usually have pink or red or white eyes. Not purple. In the far corner of my eye, I saw the gang and the devil girl again. “Hey,” I said to Lilly. “Yes?” She said. “Who is that devil girl who has five people always following her?” “Oh, you mean Pandora?” So her name was Pandora. “Um, yeah, thanks,” I said. “Why do you ask?” says Lilly. “Just curious.” I looked again. Pandora and the gang were gone. I felt like they were up to something. We walked to lunch . . . wait, LUNCH! I forgot to pack my lunch. “Hey Maya? Can you share your lunch with me?” “Sure!” said Maya. “I thought the school said that the parents have to pack the student’s lunch,” said Lilly. Silence. Then, finally Maya looked at Lilly and said, “Lilly, she doesn’t have parents—I mean, she did but they’re dead. Let’s not talk about it.” “Oh I’m sorry, I totally didn’t know.” I looked at her. She acted like she did know. What’s wrong with her?! I think she’s evil. The three of us went outside and met up with Olivia and Juliet. “Hi guys.” I said, “This is Lilly, our new friend. Do you mind if she sits with us?” said Maya, smiling. “Oh, not at all,” said Juliet. Juliet was having a big piece of chocolate shaped like a heart. Olivia was having a lollipop. “Where’s your lunch?” asked Olivia. “Oh, she forgot it,” said Maya.

“Yeah, sorry, mind if you share your lunch with me?” “Akia, this is like the thirtieth time you have ever asked us. Of course we can share our lunch with you!” said Olivia. “Haha, thanks guys,” I said sitting down on the leaves under a tree. It was the first day of winter. A little bit of snow but not so much. Today was probably the last day that we can enjoy outside. We ate lunch and had fun. This continued every day and I noticed that Pandora and her gang didn’t really show up at school, or I barely saw them at school. I don’t know why. Everything was great until . . . It was Christmas today so I woke up extra early. I slipped on my uniform, ate breakfast, packed everything up (including my lunch), braided my hair (because Maya and Olivia said too), and stepped out of my house. There was snow everywhere. The snow and the bamboo looked very pretty. There is usually a trail to the temple in the forest of bamboo, but the snow was covering the tracks. I walked into the forest, reminding myself where the track was and soon, got to the temple. It was a red temple with a porch and a roof. There were bars. Behind the bars was the spirit of the nine-tailed fox. I smiled. “I hope today is going to be the best Christmas ever!” I clapped my hands and prayed. Then, I walked back by following my foot prints when I came here and went to school. I got to the school. Huh. My friends always wait for me at the start of the school day. Then, I heard someone counting “3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . .” I peeked over the gate. “Boo! Merry Christmas, Akia!” Juliet jumped out from behind the gate and shook her hands. “Ahh! You scared me,” I said giggling. “Merry Christmas, Akia! Here, I got you a stuffed bear. We thought you would like it,” said Olivia. I started jumping up and down, “I love it! Oh my gosh, thank you so much! I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything but I promise I will!” “Aw, you don’t have too, Akia. We already know your life is hard without your parents,” said Juliet. Just then someone jumped onto my back. “Ahh, who is it!” I said.

“Hehe, it’s me, Maya, you silly. But look, look! My antlers grew!!! I’m so happy! I even put decorations on them see? Like stars and many other things!” She was right. Her antlers were fully grown and they looked super cool! “We even have matching braids today!” I sure did think that today was going to be the best Christmas, but I may have been incorrect . . . We still had thirty minutes so me and my friends walked in the hall talking about many things. Soon, Olivia said, “Hey, where’s Lilly? She said she was going to the bathroom and never came back.” “Hmmm. Let’s go find her,” I said. We looked everywhere but could not find her. Soon, we were in the hallway by our lockers. “I forgot to put my stuff into my locker.” I opened my locker and found a note. “Meet me behind the school after school,” I read out loud. “Who is it from?” asked Juliet. “Hmmmmmmm, doesn’t say,” I said. “How about you go, and we will follow you and watch from behind after school.”

Ian Robinson

Age 12 | The James and Grace Lee Boggs School

The Escape of Mr. Pavato Mr. Pavato (Mr. P) lives on Belle Isle in Detroit. Mr. P is very lonely and really wants to meet new people. He is incredibly famous and has lots of fans on Facebook and wants to connect to his fans by leaving the island and going to other places in Michigan. Mr. P has a really hard time trying to tell his owners that he wants to travel outside of Detroit. So, he makes a plan. He thinks if he could get a map, he would be able to see where he needs to go to get off Belle Isle. Mr. P finds a really old map, and he notices that there is a boat all the way at the end of the island. Mr. P thought he could reach the boat to sail to the mainland. He knows that his owners would catch him escaping, so he decides to wait until everyone was sleeping to make his grand escape. It is now 10:00pm and Mr. P is so excited to try and meet some of his fans. His owners are heading home, so Mr. P speeds over to the boat and jumps in. Mr. Pavato shakes the boat while jumping, which

makes the boat start to drift away from the island. Mr. P has no control over the boat and meows for help. Luckily, his owner notices Mr. P is missing. His owner hops in a boat and sails over, saving Mr. P. Then, Mr. P decides to point his paw toward the mainland and meows. His owner finally understands; Mr. P wants to explore Michigan. The next morning, Mr. P and his owner head down to docks and enter the boat. Mr. Pavato and his owner settle in the boat and they sail away on the dark blue water. Mr. Pavato and his owner take a picture of them sailing away from the island and tell all their fans on Facebook to join them for meet and greet on the Detroit Riverwalk. The meet and greet is a success, and Mr. P and his owner decide to take a road trip across the state to meet more fans. This makes Mr. P incredibly happy.

Xavier Sánchez-Miranda

Age 10 | Dicken Elementary

The Day I Became Famous (Kinda) I started making music soundtracks and decided I could become famous. I thought that lots of people would like my music, so I made a TikTok account and posted a video of one of my songs. And guess what? It went viral. My video got around one hundred thousand views! Because my video did so well, I kept posting more. I decided that with these soundtracks I could probably make apps with some of my music for people to play. To see if this was true, I posted a video of one of my apps, and people really liked it. Some were horror/scary games that were survival games, and I am making relaxing games as well.

Abeer Otaifah and Mohammed Otaifah

Age 12 and Age 10 | Fortis Academy

Perseverance Breaking news! Perseverance has big wheels made for roving across Mars terrain. If you don’t know about the Mars rover, you should search it up. You will find fun things, like how Curiosity took small sand particles, while on the other hand, Perseverance takes large pieces of rocks. It is going to leave approximately twenty-three pieces of rocks for future missions.

Fun fact! Did you know that there is a built-in drone in the Perseverance rover?! Do you want to know another fun fact? The drone has a camera that can take pictures. So far, it has taken 6,395 pictures. It has been on Mars for twelve days, ten hours, eight minutes.* When Perseverance landed, it was originally fifteen times faster than a bullet and went to three miles an hour at touch down. It went from fifteen times faster than a bullet to a three miles per hour touch down. Perseverance is a really interesting thing for people to see. It is really amazing how NASA built it, and it is incredible how NASA did all the hard work to persevere. *At the time of this writing

Raneem Saleh

Age 9 | Erickson Elementary

The Adventures with Bella and Maya and Jake and Sam Once upon a time, there were two princesses who lived on a forest island. Princess Bella and Princess Maya both wanted to marry Prince Jake of forest island so they could be the future queen. The two princesses fought over the attention of the prince. The prince didn’t want to marry anyone. He simply wasn’t interested in the princesses. So, the princesses started to plan for his brother when the other prince came to the castle. It was the prince’s brother, and he was visiting, but he couldn’t stay too long because his brother was going to Candy World. Everything there was made of candy: a candy house, a candy sky, and even candy trees. And when you got hungry you could eat whatever you wanted. And he found a house made out of marshmallows and the roof and the door were made out of chocolate, and that’s where the witch lived with her cat, Whiskers. The prince went into the house, and then the prince saw the witch and her cat. The witch put him to sleep with a potion, but then his brother Jake saw he left his suitcase behind. He then jumped on a horse and rode to Candy World. He saw the house too, and he saw the witch and her cat, and he saw his brother too. He grabbed the sword, and then he ran into the witch’s house, and then he defeated the witch and her cat. His brother woke up, and Bella and Maya heard about the news. They ran over as fast as they could, and said “Are you OK? By the way, Jake, what is your brother’s name?”

“Sam,” he said. They said, “Hi Sam.” They started to look in the witch’s stuff, and then Sam found a book about Candyland rules, and he started reading it. Rule #9: Do not lie, or you will turn into big statues. He told the princesses and his brother, but they did not believe him. Then, they read it. “It is really true!” But Maya did not believe it, so she lied to herself, and then she was frozen. Everybody was worried! Everybody got hammers and nails and said, “This will take four hours, there has to be another way.” “There is only one way: true love. I will do it,” Sam said. “Thank you, Sam,” Bella said. “But do you love her?” “Yes, I do.” And then he kissed Maya, and then the ice melted and she woke up. Everybody cheered, and then two months later they got married. Everybody she knew was there, and then they started having adventures: swimming on dolphins, feeding elephants, dancing with swans, and rolling in mud with pigs. And Maya learned how to ride horses, because Sam taught her. Time passed by, and Bella and Jake started learning about each other. They had a lot in common, like they could speak three languages: English, Spanish, and Arabic. They liked animals, they loved candy, and they all had superpowers. Bella had ice powers, Maya had fire powers, Sam could move things with his mind, and Jake could fly. Jake thought about it, “Well, Bella and I have a lot in common.” The next day, Jake proposed to Bella. Two months later, they got married, and then they moved into an ice castle. Bella made it with her ice powers; it was beautiful. But it was always cold, even on hot days. They got a new pet dog, her name was Fluffy. They named her Fluffy because she was so fluffy. Maya was kind of jealous. She wanted her own castle, so she tried to create her own castle, but it only turned into fire. So she asked her sister to create the castle. Bella did make it, but over the night it turned into water, and Maya had to move into the old castle again, and all her stuff was wet. But when Bella woke up, she thought of something so good: it will not turn into water, it won’t turn into fire, and it won’t melt. She can draw her dream castle! She can make

flames, she can make Jake and herself, and her sister and Sam! Oh, and she could paint the castle, too! And when the castle is finished she’s going to have a big ball, and all the princesses around the world and princes are invited to the ball. Cinderella got invited, Tiana got invited, Jasmine and Rapunzel got invited, Snow White got invited, Aurora got invited, Sleeping Beauty got invited, and all her family and friends got invited to the ball. There’s going to be a dining room and there will be a ballroom, too, and it’s going to be beautiful. “We have to get snacks,” they said. Two days later, the castle was done, and they just had to decorate inside. Sam and Maya helped decorate all day and night. The next day, it was done. Now they had to get snacks. “We need cupcakes and cakes. Sam and Jake, can you stop by Candyland to get some candy for the ball?” Bella asked. Sam and Jake said, “Sure, Bella.” Both of them got on a horse and rode to Candyland. The witch’s sister came, she went to her sister’s house, and then she saw her sister laying dead on the ground. Thank God she had a spell for it! Then her sister woke up, and then she told her all about Jake, Sam, Maya, and Bella. She knew where they lived, but didn’t know they got married. Now they moved, except for one sister. But then she saw a different house, because of the drawing and ice castle, so she just walked away. “Do you see that?” She saw them in the old house. She said, “See what?” “The people up there. Do you recognize them?” “Yes I do. Those are the ones who killed me, but I’m glad you’re here. So are all of them. Yes, they’re all here.” And then Sam looked out of the window, and he saw the evil witches. Sam told everybody in the castle. Guards went outside, but they were too strong. But Sam, Jake, Bella, and Maya totally forgot they had superpowers. They all went outside except for Jake. Sam got a sword to fight with. Bella froze the witches and said, “That should be good for now.”

The guests said, “Everybody help us, those witches are trying to kill us! And you all have superpowers, right?” “Yes, we all do, OK. That ice will melt any minute now.” The ice melted and the witches woke up. “Rapunzel, trap that witch. Sam, put that witch off the ground. Jake, call the police,” Bella said. “Got it, Bella. Now you’re busted.” “Please let us go,” said the witch. “Jake, don’t call the police.” “Thank you.” “All right. I’ll let you go only if you leave us alone for forever.” “Deal?” “Deal.” Then they started the ball and all this. Happy ever after. The end.

Dominique Berry

Age 10 | Mitchell Elementary

The Animal Adventures One day, there were four animals who lived in a forest. The animals were Fox, Wolf, Frog, and Dog. So Wolf, Frog, and Dog were talking about the adventure. Then they went to Fox’s tent. Wolf said, “We are going on an adventure.” “Again?” Fox yelled. “Yes, again,” said Frog. Frog explained, “We are going to a cave today and there is going to be treasure there.” “Yes! I’m going to be rich!” Fox said. “Oh, I mean WE are going to be rich.” They looked at Fox and giggled a bit.

They went to sleep . . . The next morning they went to the cave. They had to parkour and get away from lava. They made it to the treasure. Fox ran to the treasure. “NO!” The animals said. The cave started to collapse. They made it back home safely. But the animals heard that the humans needed food. They found the campsite where the animals lived. All of the animals lived, and the animals found a new campsite to live in. The end!

J’Lah Smith

Age 9 | Carpenter Elementary

Ice Cream Learns How to Fly Ice Cream is a five-year-old pink unicorn with a horn that changes colors. She has pink, purple, blue, yellow, and green hair as well as pink, blue, and purple wings. Ice Cream only talks to a few people because she is kind of shy, but she likes to have fun with her friends Cupcake and Brownie. Cupcake is a purple unicorn with a rainbow horn all around. Cupcake has pink hair and pink, yellow, and blue wings. Cupcake is a funny unicorn who likes to smile a lot. Sometimes it’s hard being nice all the time, but Cupcake is always nice. Brownie is a blue unicorn with a purple and pink horn. Brownie has yellow hair and pink, purple, and green wings. Brownie is a clumsy unicorn and only smiles sometimes. Brownie is nice sometimes. Ice Cream likes to practice how to fly at home with the help of Cupcake and Brownie. Every time Ice Cream comes home, she goes inside and tries to fly off the couch. Sometimes she falls before she actually flies. Ice Cream wants to learn how to fly better, but she always falls. Ice Cream learns to fly better from practice. Every time she tries to fly, she falls, but she doesn’t stop trying. She falls, and falls, and falls, but doesn’t stop trying. But, one time, she flies instead of falling. When she learns to fly instead of falling, she is excited. Once Ice Cream learns to fly, she flies all the time. When Ice Cream feels really happy and excited, she flies fast. But when Ice Cream feels tired, she flies slow. She loves to fly a bit lower to the ground because she is scared of heights, but she will still fly high sometimes.

Madison Hopkins

Age 8 | Holmes Elementary

Madison Saving the Savanna! Part One Madison went to the savanna to feed her animals. There were lions and lionesses, tigers, super hero frogs, and her favorite: the cheetahs. Madison was the queen of the savanna. There was a witch who was trying to put a curse on the animals and make them endangered. Madison would have to save the savanna. Part Two Madison took all of the endangered animals to her house in Memphis. She made a potion to put in the animals’ water so that they could talk like humans. Now that the animals could talk, they went out into the city to get jobs. Some of the lions and tigers went to the police station to work, some of the lions and tigers went to the zoo to take care of the other animals, and the superhero frogs and giraffes went to the fire station to be firefighters. Part Three Some of the lions got married, and all of the other animals got married, too. Some of the families had babies. Everyone got together and they had a party at Madison’s house where they danced for the babies’ birthdays. They used the money from their jobs to buy birthday stuff. Part Four One day the witch found where all the animals had gone! She took all the animals and their babies and threw them in a cage. The witch sucked all the powers out of the superhero frogs, because the witch has the power to suck up the whole universe. Luckily, Madison had super powers! However, the witch took Madison’s powers by putting her in a cage too. Everyone thought it was going to be the end of the world. But there was one more person with superpowers. Madison’s mom! Madison’s mom took her magic rope in her hand and tied up the witch and set everyone free. Her mom also had an “evil eye” that could absorb all of the evilness, which she used to absorb the evilness from the witch, and the witch disappeared.

Joan Nunez

Age 9 | Carpenter Elementary

Ode to Spring Break In September, we went to study. We worked hard. In October, we stayed inside and watched everyone party all night. In November, we jumped in leaves. In December, we sang songs, drank hot cocoa, and opened presents. In January, we got used to the sun, and knew that summer was coming. In February, we sang to our ladies. We gave them Valentines, chocolates, and roses to help us create proposals for them, for the damsels. In March, we celebrated Women’s History Month to celebrate everything they sacrificed for us that made us who we are today. In April, we may experience some rain but we will have fun staying indoors—singing songs, watching TV to pass the time. I am looking forward to going on my mom’s water park trip. I feel excited. Oh, summer!

Summer Spark It’s a summer spark and no one can stop us We’re all Oh yeah, feel the sunshine, feel the summer spark Oh yeah, summer love it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed of Flowing through us, We are the ones who dreamed. It’s summer We got that summer feeling That summer spark It’s time, oh yeah, we cool off at the river We go to my birthday party Hanging out with friends Camping out in the winter And see who can hold their breath the longest

Oh yeah Hanging out with my best friends In the pool Pool party Oh yeah x3 Hang out by the lockers in the new school year Oh yeah, hanging out with Jaden my best friend He’s one of the people I can always count on

July Disco Fiasco It’s July, It’s everything we’ve dreamed of We may not be free from the coronavirus At least we can still enjoy the summer It’s July, it’s July disco fiasco, oh yes And every day we get to party It’s July Fourth Get some brownies and celebrate And as always we stay sideways Just keep cool with it all The fireworks and everything Stay the fireworks outside the zone . . . Everything we dreamed of and more They watch us having glowsticks Stay with the glowsticks Make it the no-sticks At night we throw a glow stick party Everybody stay in da house Big daddy-o stay Everybody go away Let’s have a time to remember forever Stay everybody, stay away

Let’s get ready to have some fun But enjoy the sun. Oh, Hello, Mom x2

Birthday Battle It’s a birthday battle, let’s get it Grab all the Nerf guns We’re gonna Stay alive until the end of the game Let’s go, let it go, it’s time to get it all Stay alive until the end Birthday bash It’s an amusement It’s a birthday bash, let’s get it Let’s armor up, stay alive, make sure you go Let’s stay alive, make sure you bring an invite x2 Make sure you bring a prize, let’s do this, Let’s stay alive, make sure you bring the invite. Three hours of awesome fun, get ready to sing happy birthday, Get ready it’s Nerf day, and get ready to sing happy birthday. x2 Yeah x3 Got some fresh new kicks on my feet. On my feet x2 Ready to bring the heat, got some new kicks on my feet. Get ready to bring the heat. Yeah x3 Stay alive, make sure you got an invite. Stay alive, it’s a birthday battle dash. Nerf darts flying everywhere, it’s more fair Stay alive, make sure you bring an invite.

Water Spring Rap and Brag I’m like an elevator, I go up and down People drown in my sea of coolness Why? Because they can’t resist my coolness They drool while I’m cool Just sitting there in the beach We go to the pool and have a pool party We got the soda with the sofa Then we stay together at a water park hotel I jump up and down, yeah, yeah I go in the water The jacuzzi It’s a great place to relax Oh yeah x3? Go, go, go to the water park x2 Then we buy every single thing in the gift shop, gift shop, gift shop Jump in the water x2 Flip cannonball Jump x6 Stay cool, keep alive play volleyball Because I don’t want be the human moneyball Here and there, I’m the volleyball champion I want to go to New York and then eat all the pork I want to go to Chinatown and then maximinatown

Kaden Curry

Age 9 | Carpenter Elementary

Letter to Joe Biden Dear President Biden, I will congratulate you for being president. One thing I want to tell you to check is to check out Roblox, and if you like it, you can buy as many Roblox as you want. I am also wondering what your daily activities will be. I am wondering if you can share your Roblox with me. For example, if you get Premium, you can share. If you do purchase Roblox, you can buy Premium for $5 every month while also playing it on the computer because you can get 450 Roblox for free every month of the year. If you use your computer to play, you can change the page on them every month. Sincerely, Kaden from Ypsilanti

Angela Maton

Age 10 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

That Ugly, Mean Queen Once upon a time, there was a girl named Alexis. Alexis had long, black hair. She was four foot. She wore a pink butterfly shirt and a pink butterfly skirt. She liked cheer and basketball, and her favorite food was fries and hot chicken wings. Her favorite drink was Hawaiian punch, and she liked water. She was intelligent, loved school, and loved playing with Barbie dolls. She loved her family and friends. One day Alexis saw a castle on her way back home. So she went and saw a lot of guards, so she went to the store and got a costume that looked like a guard. She went back, and she told one of the guards that she needed to go use the bathroom. She went and saw a lot of cute things. So she made a piece of armor fall. She did not know the queen was home. The queen got out of her room and said, “What was that sound?” She went down the elevator and Alexis went on the other elevator. She went and saw a room that said: DON’T GO IN!! She went in anyway, and she saw a lot of kids in that room. She saw the queen, and she hid in the bathroom so she wouldn’t

find her. The queen looked in the room that said “don’t go in,” to see if the kids who she was holding as hostages were still there. All the kids were in there, so she went to her fairy godmother and asked her to make her some food. The godmother went to go make food, and Alexis was scared she’d see her. Alexis went to help the kids who were in the room, and they all made it home safe and sound. The next day she went back and saw more kids! Alexis called the FBI and the SWAT team and then they came and kicked down the door and said, “Where is that ugly, mean queen?” She came down and said, “Oh my God, what are you doing in my house?” They said, “We heard that you have some kids in here, and they are not yours, so get them and follow us now.” She said, “How did you know?” “We know everything,” they said. “But how?” she said.

Tanushka Hariharan Age 10 | Carpenter Elementary

Esmeralda and the Abandoned House One day, Esmeralda, a demigod from Asgard with power, wisdom, and beauty, was in an abandoned house. She thought abandoned houses were silly. When she entered the house, she heard a creaking sound behind her. She was scared. Then, something went into the kitchen and it startled her! She went to the basement to turn on the light when she saw her cousin Annabeth, and she was with her friend Percy Jackson. They said they were there to find the monsters and Esmeralda said, “There is no such thing as monsters.” Then something behind them knocked a box of paint, and it was a cat! After everyone went home, Percy’s enemy Luke created a monster to haunt their dreams for life.

Mia Lynette Keefer

Age 9 | Carpenter Elementary

The Pencil Once upon a time, there was a girl named Kaly and she had this pencil that her dad gave to her when he died. Little did she know that whatever she drew came to life. It was a new day and she was going to draw with her new pencil. When she started, she drew her and her dad watching television. Then that came to life! When she drew anything, it came to life. But when she put the pencil down, everything went away, and she felt sad that her dad went away. And the bad thing about the pencil was that she could not interact with her dad. And Kaly was sad, but when she drew her and her dad watching TV, she felt happy again.

Aaliyah Holt

Age 9 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

Diana's Birthday Diana gets up in the morning, and it is the last day of school because summer break is coming up. Before school, she wants to go for a walk. She goes to the bathroom and brushes her teeth. Goes to her room to her closet to get ready. She picks out a pink t-shirt, and she puts on a cyan jacket. She’s wearing greyish-pinkish pants. She is wearing bright pink shoes and light pink socks. This is her It’s going to be a great day! outfit. Before she goes anywhere, she has to check the weather because she needs to make sure that it isn’t too cold. It is kind of cold outside. She puts on a jacket. She goes downstairs for breakfast. Her mom is making blueberry pancakes. Her mom asks her to take the dog, Dina, for a walk and she does because she is going for a walk. So she takes the dog with her to the beach. The dog has a collar. The dog is wearing a pink outfit. Diana is always smart and kind, but she’s not that popular. She’s always helping others, and she’s like the school council. She makes sure that people don’t get into fights. It is 8am for the walk, and school starts at 9am. She can’t be late. If she’s late, she’ll be marked absent. She has to be there on the last day. Diana is holding her phone in her hand. Her friend Maya calls her. Maya is her best

friend. They’ve known one another since kindergarten. They take the same classes, and are interested in the same things. They both like art, and they really like math class, and they love shopping. Maya tells her about a party happening next week on Sunday. Diana says no because on Sunday she has to stay home and watch her baby brother. Maya is not mad at Diana, but she is kind of upset. Maya: It’s OK, but I’m still kind of sad that you can’t come. Diana: Well, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later. It’s almost 9am. It is now 8:30! She’s really worried. But she isn’t, because she’s down the street from her home, and school isn’t that far from home. So she gets to school, but apparently she’s actually early. She was freaking out for no reason! The teacher asks for her help. The teacher wants her to clean off some of the tables because some of the tables have marker on them and other stuff. Really dirty ☹. She helps. All the other kids get there thirty minutes later. First, the teacher starts teaching them about math and physics. Four hours later, school is over. Her dad is waiting outside in the parking lot to take her home. When they get home, her mom is cooking dinner, and her little brother is upstairs playing with his toy cars he got when their mom took him shopping. She goes upstairs to her room. And then she plays Among Us on her phone. While she is playing Among Us and she gets the impostor, her friend Maya Hudson calls her, and she has to answer it because it would be rude not to. Maya: You have to come over to my house please because something happened. Diana: Why can’t you just tell me over the phone? Diana goes downstairs. No one is in the house. There is a note on the dinner table, We are at Maya’s house. Go to Maya’s house. Diana thinks it is a trick or a prank. She takes her bike to her friend’s house. No one is there. All the lights are out. People jump out from behind couches and say, “Happy Birthday!” And then she remembers that today is her birthday, and she turns fourteen. And they have a big party, and they eat lots and lots of cake and ice cream. There’s lots and lots of confetti. She saw her best friend Chloe, who went on vacation, and she missed a lot of school days. The end.

Kai’C Haynes

Age 10 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

The Elements Once upon a time, there were four elements: ice, water, air, and fire. You see, a long time ago there were these people who were living peacefully with their four elements, until everybody found out about the elements and got sent to war. There are four kids who can get them back, but they don’t know it just yet. Four hundred years later, they hid away the elements, and they were never seen again . . . Kate: Hi! I’m Kate. Let me tell you about myself. You see, I have three friends, Jake, Joseph, and Emily. Have you heard the legend of the lost elements? Yeah, like that’s real. They are only real in movies. Everybody thinks that they are real, but I’ll prove them all wrong. Emily, why don’t you introduce yourself? Emily: Sure! Thanks Kate! Hi! I’m Emily and I love elements. Kate thinks they’re not real. How could she possibly think that they’re fake? Anyway, there’s not much about me. One day, I hope to have an element of my own. Jake, Joseph, tell them about yourselves. Jake: OK! Thanks Emily! Hi! I’m Jake, and Joseph and I are brothers. I love football, space, and fire. It’s just so glowy. I really wanna touch it, but my mom says I’ll burn myself. Hopefully when I grow up, I’ll get the element of fire. Joseph, tell them about you! Joseph: Will do! Hi! I’m Joseph! I love water, it’s really peaceful the way it moves and sounds! My brother Jake loves fire, but I prefer water instead. You see, this one time I went to the river, but something happened. I felt like I had a connection with water, and I don’t know why. My brother thinks it’s weird, but I think it’s just fine anyway. I’ll see you later at school! Will these kids get the elements back? I don’t know, I guess we’ll just have to find out. Stay tuned to see what happens next! Kate: Morning! What’s for breakfast? Kate’s mom: Cereal, but hurry up, or you’re gonna miss the bus! Five minutes later . . . Kate: Bye, Mom! See you later!

Kate’s mom: Bye! Have a good day at school! At school . . . Kate: Hi, guys! Everybody else: Hi, Kate! Joseph: Emily came up with a great idea! Kate: Really? What is it? Emily: Well, I figured that since you think that elements are not real, I figured maybe we should sneak out this Saturday and find the elements, but don’t worry! We will be back by Sunday morning. Kate: Are you crazy?! We can’t do that! And besides, how will we get there? Jake: Well, Emily looked up a map online, and she printed it! Then she calculated how far and how long it would take to get there! Emily: It’s true! Everybody else is coming, too! You in, Kate? Kate: They’re not real, but I- I- I guess I’ll come only to prove that they are NOT real at all. Joseph: Great! We will talk more about this at lunch time! So it’s 10am, right, and lunch is not until, let’s see . . . 12:30. Emily: Yup! So see you all in . . . two hours and thirty minutes! Everyone: OK! Sounds like a plan! At lunch . . . Jake: So how are we gonna sneak out? Kate: Simple! Put a pillow under our blankets and put on an audio for sleeping! Emily: Really? Out of all the other options, that’s what you choose? Kate: Yep! Jake and Joseph: Then it’s settled! Let’s all meet at 11:00pm tonight in the meadow. At 11:00pm Kate: Hey guys! Everyone: Hey!

Kate: You guys got everything we need? Everyone: Yes. Jake: I brought all the swimming gear! Emily: I brought the first aid kit and winter clothes! Joseph: I brought fire protective clothes! Jake: Wait, where do we find air? Emily: Well, just put air in a bag, simple as that. Kate: She has a point, you know. Jake: Alright! Well, I’ll go get the bag. *Jake gets a plastic bag and puts air in it.* Emily: OK, now we wait for a minute. One minute later . . . Jake: Whoa! What’s this on my neck? Emily: It’s the air necklace! It gives air power! Kate: What! No way! I thought it was fake . . . Emily: Told you it’s not fake. Now let’s go to the volcano next! This time Jake can get it. They walked for miles until they finally got there. Jake: OK, I’m going in. Oh! But before I do, here, Kate, keep the air necklace! Kate: OK, cool! Jake: OK, I got my protective gear on. I’ll be back. And stay here! *Jake climbs in* Jake: Found it! *volcano making noises* Jake: Uh oh! Better go! *Jake runs*

Jake: Guys, run! *everybody runs* Minutes later . . . Joseph: Phew, we’re safe! Jake: Cool! I got the necklace! I’ve always wanted fire! Kate: Alright! Let’s go. There’s not much time left! Besides, there are only two more to go! Kate: OK! We can use my power to get to the Arctic. I looked up online how to use it for a project. Everybody hold on! In case you don’t know what the Arctic is, it’s just a very cold place that has water, ice, and lots of snow. That’s all. ☺ Back to the story! Kate: Let’s fly! *Kate jumps in the air and starts flying* Everybody: Whoa! This is pretty fast. We will be there in no time! Five minutes later they arrived Emily: OK, Joseph, get some water gear and find some water and get the water element! And everybody else! Let’s get some really thick snow gear on so that I can find the ice element. Jake: OK! But first, let me melt this ice. I found the instructions in the volcano. All I have to do is say melt. Joseph: OK! Thanks for your help! Jake: Lava! Let’s melt! *ice starts to melt* Joseph: Thanks! See you all soon! *Jake jumps into the water* Everybody: Let’s go find that ice element!

On Joseph’s side Joseph: Good thing I have this snorkel! Let’s go find this necklace! After Joseph swims for a while, he comes across something very shiny. Joseph: Ohh! What’s this shiny thing? *gasp* The necklace! Yes, yes, yes! OK, now let’s wait for a minute. I wonder what the others are doing? Emily: We have been walking for sooo long . . . Kate: What!? It’s only been like five minutes! Emily: Oh, my bad, heh heh. Jake: Look! The ice necklace! Emily: Cool! OK, let’s wait a minute, we have at least thirty minutes left. If you’re confused, they have to wait one minute for it to appear, because if her friends already have an element then it will appear on her neck. Back to the story! Joseph: Cool! I got the element, let’s go find the others. Five minutes later . . . Joseph: Found you guys! Emily: Hey Joseph! Look! I got the ice element! Joseph: Cool! Now let’s go! Only eighteen minutes left! Kate: OK, let’s fly! Five minutes later… Jake: Cool, we got here just in time! Only thirteen minutes left! Good thing we all live next door. Kate: Yeah! Sorry for not believing you guys . . . Everybody: It’s OK! You didn’t know! Everybody else: OK, bye! Kate: Bye! The end—hope you enjoyed!

Julian Wheatley

Age 9 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

Protecting the Springbok A springbok is like a gazelle and runs very fast. When a lion appears, it doesn’t want to be last. The springbok hears a noise and does a jump To startle the predator and hit it with a bump. When the springbok is looking for food, it hears predators. When it’s being chased, it wins the race and feels like a creditor.

Noah Marcanthony

Age 4 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

Everfell Once upon a time, the town of Everfell got SEVEN feet of snow. The snow melted, and the tower and village burned. ☹ Luckily, the fires were extinguished by the snow, so no one died. Jemeson was injured but luckily healed quickly. Jemeson had sharp scales on his knee. He was slowly turning into an amphibian hybrid person. He had never seen anything like his knee before, and he did not know who to ask for help. There was a wizard far away who knew how to use his magical power and Jemeson’s magical power. Jemeson had the power to take things down by moving his hands. He could breathe underwater. He could swim very fast; he could swim the deep sea in one second. He could make infinity of anything but he could only do that one time. He made infinity knights. The wizard taught him how to use his power and when he needed to do it. Wizard: You must get a magical apple from the deep, deep cave of wonders. Remember, all that comes in isn’t all that comes out. Luckily, somebody was able to survive it. Jemeson was scared to go in the deep, deep cave. He had to swim there. Despite his fears, Jemeson decided to go into the deep, deep cave to eat the powerful apple that once he bit he would know everything, how to control and how to use his powers. The apple was rainbow, but the real one that would teach you how to do it would taste pretty caramelly. He had these needle thingies. He poked the apples to see the one with caramel.

And then he bit the apple. He had a big vision to see how and when and where to use his powers. He got to have the power to teleport in one snap. Before he got his teleport powers, he said, “Knight, take me to the porch,” and the knight took him to the porch. His enemy was The Black Bluey, who would take every soul and store it in his soul locker for eternity. But the only way to destroy him was to find his weak spot. Nobody knew anything about his weak spot. Nobody even knew he had one. On Friday afternoon Jemeson went to find The Black Bluey. He found him at the mall. He touched every spot until he figured out. Once he found the spot, he punched the spot as hard as he could and all the souls were freed and back into their regular bodies. Once they got in their regular bodies, they were buried because the people thought they were dead, so they buried their souls and put their names on the bricks. But there was only one way to undo all the mess. He would have to face his worst fears, the terrifying Koogle with a thousand sword hands. So he faced his fears. He fought and fought and fought and he won. Luckily, he won. Everybody was normal again, not buried, and had their souls.

Alana Smith

Age 10 | UPrep Academy Ellen Thompson

Living in the Rainforest This story is set in the rainforest. There’s lots of trees and flowers. It smells like rose, sunflowers. They slept outside. They got tents, a little bit of food, flashlights, and a little bit of drinks. Two boys, two girls, and two parents sleep. The family don’t have nowhere to go so they been living in the rainforest. Ten years ago they protected their house from the rain, and a few nights ago, their house got fire and they tried to find a house. They can’t find a house, so they started to live in the rainforest.

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) We study the writing we want to do so we can try it

A way to help us connect to our world

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

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

www.826michigan.org

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-on-one 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 were 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 Weebots 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: laughter-filled 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. For store hours and online shopping, please visit us online at onwardrobots.com. All proceeds from our stores directly fund our free student programming. Onward robots!

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!