The Never-ending Dream

gadgets inside like computers and cellphones that had somehow been left behind. So they told the gods and goddesses about it, and they thought it was cool. “Our castle is way out of date!” the gods and goddesses said. “I can’t believe we missed this new era!” They were very interested in all the technology they found inside of the skyscraper. The gods and goddesses moved into the skyscraper, and, using their new technology, they each made a Facebook page for themselves and started a company that made a card game with Japanese god and goddess figurines. Whenever the gods and goddesses sold the card game, they felt like people were making a sacrifice to them. The gods and goddesses lived happily with their new business. The kids asked the magic crystal to take them back to their home, where they learned to speak Japanese and discovered that they liked to eat seaweed salad. Every time they played the god and goddess card game and played the toad spirit card, the toad spirit appeared and helped them win the game.

Collaborative Stories: Omniah, Noah, Ai, & Lanaejah

The Never-ending Dream

A kid was sleeping and started dreaming about monsters. He realized he was stuck in the dream. He was attached to his dream! He was so deep in his dream that he couldn’t wake up. The real world became his nightmare. He doesn’t like the real world. Although the kid didn’t know it yet, the monsters were in his dream because that’s how he thought about people. He liked the imaginary world because once he noticed his power, he could control it. He could make monsters, and sometimes he could get the monsters to listen to him. The monsters he created were black and had red eyes and a white mouth. The monsters were very big and very tall and they had claws. They were like shadows. Some were strong—they could throw people. Not only were there strong monsters, but there were also other powerless monsters. They couldn’t throw people, but they were able to walk through them. His brother was in the dream, but he was a monster. He thought of his brother as a monster. Whenever he thought of a person as a monster, that person turned into a monster in his dream. His brother was a mean person and loved messy things way too much. Unlike the brother, the kid was always the popular one. There were lots of monsters around, and the kid couldn’t figure out which one was his brother because they couldn’t speak. The scientist began to fight off the monsters one by one, trying to run away until he could get out of the dream. The kid finally managed to get out of the dream, but he wanted to go back. His desire to go back came from realizing that the real world was much worse than his dream. The kid discovered how to go back to the dream, but a monster had broken the invention that allowed the kid to go back into the dream. Now he was fully stuck in the real world! The next day, he went off to school and met the kid scientist. The kid then realized there are some very similar things between both of them. Somebody in the school yelled out, “Books aren’t helpful. Books are weirdos!” The kid scientist screamed loudly. The kid realized that the kid scientist had been in the same dream as him, but he didn’t want to mention it. The kid decided he would spy on the kid scientist. He then decided to trap the kid scientist in a very dark room. The scientist was scared. He began to explain the truth about how he traveled between the real world and the dream.

The kid scientist mixed a bunch of potions and accidentally spilled some on himself, sending him back to the dream! The scientist was blocking his view when he was sent back to the dream, so the kid didn’t know what potion had this power. The kid started studying the potions to figure out which one would send him to the dream world because he felt sorry for the scientist and wanted to use a potion to bring him back. The kid figured out which potion sent the scientist to the dream, and he found the one that would bring them back to the real world. He poured a little bit of the dream-sending potion on himself and grabbed the bottle that would bring them back. The kid cannot find the scientist in the dream world. Even though there were a bunch of monsters all over the place, he went to look for the scientist! A monster found the kid and trapped him. Meanwhile, the scientist roamed somewhere else, and unknowingly found the monster that trapped the kid. The scientist thought the monster was strange, so he followed the monster around. He realized that the monster had the kid trapped! The monster walked away as the scientist came to this realization. The scientist decided he wanted to save the kid from the monster. He helped the kid escape, and the monster walked away. He said, “These monsters are random. They’re not human.” As he walked, the kid saw a necklace wrapped around the white-and-red-spotted monster’s neck. The necklace was a family thing, so they knew each other. The kid felt like the scientist was lying. He recognized this old necklace and realized the monsters were people he knew and didn’t like. He thought that if he stayed like this, it would not be good. Monsters would be chasing him. If he went out into the real world though, he would see the people they were every time. The scientist gave him an idea. “Go out into the real world and out into the neighborhood. Look around at all the people.” “Why?” the kid asked. “It’s a secret. Just go!” The scientist already knew the monsters in the dream were the people the kid knew and didn’t like. If the kid went back into the neighborhood, he would see how nice the people actually were! The kid always judged people just by looking at them. The kid decided to go back to the real world, but while he was thinking, a monster ate the scientist! He ran away from the monster, who was white and was smiling at him. The kid ran into his dad, who died when he was fighting in the army. His dad was a different kind of monster. His dad said, “You can’t run away forever. You need to find the monster who ate the scientist. If you can’t do that, don’t waste time. You can become a scientist. Or you can just remember something about this monster, how he’s acting, because those are people who are close to you. If you recognize who these monsters are, you can think of something good about them to make all the monsters disappear.” The dad looked at the kid and said, “You know what? Just hide forever. That’s easy. I once hid from your mom forever. Here, I’ll give you food and water forever.”

About 826michigan

826michigan 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 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. 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: 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. 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!

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.

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

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!