New Monuments—Proposals from Ms. Love and Ms. Gray’s 3rd Grade Class

NEW MONUMENTS

Proposals from

Ms. Love and Ms. Gray’s 3rd Grade Class at Holmes Elementary

FIRST EDITION 2021 AN 826MICHIGAN DIGITAL PUBLICATION

NEW MONUMENTS Memorials That Matter

Table of Contents 826 National’s Commitment to Inclusion

About the Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

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, socioeconomic status, nationality, marital status, English fluency, parental status, immigration status, military service, or disability.

New Monument Proposals A monument to Friends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 A monument to Siblings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A monument to Families.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Write Your Own Monument Proposal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 About 826michigan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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, Volunteer & 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.

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.

Many thanks to Holmes Elementary and our volunteers for their participation in this field trip.

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

New Monuments | iii

A monument to Friends

Group 1

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.

​A re your friends nice and able to work together?

Our friends are funny and we are fair with them. We can play catch, red light green light, go to the pool, and play with our siblings with our friends. On the weekends, our friends make us really happy. Our monument should be rainbow colored.

New Monuments | 1

A monument to Siblings

A monument to Families

Group 2

Group 3

Our monument to siblings will be bigger than an adult, heart shaped <3, and big enough so that people can go inside of the monument so we can have the people we love inside of it as “live” statues. Siblings deserve a monument because we have fun with them. They have kindness. Siblings also support and take care of us. When people see our monument, we want them to feel loved, happy, and like their dreams have come true.

Families deserve a monument because they take care of us, feed us, and take us everywhere. They buy us clothes and presents.

Our cousins play outside with us. We’d be sad without our families. No one would feed us.

2 | Ms. Love and Ms. Gray’s Class

New Monuments | 3

Design Your Own Monument

Design Your Own Monument

WHO or WHAT would you like to memorialize?

WHO or WHAT would you like to memorialize?

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Opening sentence to hook the reader’s attention:

Opening sentence to hook the reader’s attention:

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What are some facts to support your proposal?

What are some facts to support your proposal?

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Share your feelings about why the proposed monument is important.

Share your feelings about why the proposed monument is important.

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

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

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Conclusion to support your proposal:

Conclusion to support your proposal:

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4 | Ms. Love and Ms. Gray’s Class

New Monuments | 5

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.

WRITING IS

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.

A way to figure things out by ourselves

We support the ways that writers work (like thinking, sketching, talking)

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.

We create a safe place to be ourselves and try new things

A way to help us connect to our world

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

IN-SCHOOL PROJECTS

We learn how to change our writing for genre, audience, and purpose

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.

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

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.

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

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!

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

www.826michigan.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by Gerald Richards, CEO