826michigan

06/03/2026

Our Ann Arbor Teen Leader Sennen was featured in AAPS District News for her participation in the Michigan Department of Education Youth Advisory Council! Congrats, Sennen!

https://news.a2schools.org/community-high-junior-joins-state-student-advisory-council

06/01/2026

We recently launched "Unsure of the Exact Destination," our 2026 Young Authors Book Project (YABP) for Washtenaw County.

We look forward to sharing more about the publication and the impact this project has made. Here's a look at the cover.

Grab a copy at our online store: https://conta.cc/4dJFNe5

05/18/2026

United Way of Southeastern Michigan wrote about our authors in "Young Storytellers Bring Art to Life."

"For nearly a decade, 826michigan, the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) and Ypsilanti Community Schools have partnered to bring every third-grade student into a powerful art-and-writing experience."

https://unitedwaysem.org/impact-stories/young-storytellers-bring-art-to-life/

05/15/2026

Meet the team: baby photo edition

At 826michigan, we care about the hopes and dreams of our students. We all were youth once.

Photo descriptions:

1 - "This is who designs publications."

2 - "This is who manages programs in Washtenaw County."

3 - "This is who manages programs in Detroit."

4 - "This is who makes sure 826 runs smoothly."

5 - "This is who leads the entire team and welcomes you."

05/11/2026

Here is recent work from some of our young authors:

"Our Journey through Boats in a Tempest"
from Mrs. Harpster's class at Erickson Elementary

First, we were bored, so we jumped off the boat and into the water. The water was a little bit hot because it was nighttime.

Then, all of a sudden, a shark came! We yelled for help, and a lifeguard showed up from the beach on his boat. He used his surfboard to get closer to us.

Next, the lifeguard called Animal Control, who yeeted the shark into another ocean. They used a catapult. There was another person sleeping in the little boat who was also afraid of the shark. There was a tsunami and some big waves, and we wanted to get away from them.

Last, we went to the upper right pool, called the Big Blue Sea. It was calmer there. It was a water park, and our friends met us there.

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This is work in response to the art piece, "Boats in a Tempest in the Trough of the Waves off the Coast of Choshi" by Katsushika Hokusai at UMMA: University of Michigan Museum of Art. You can view the art piece at: https://umma.umich.edu/objects/boats-in-a-tempest-in-the-trough-of-the-waves-off-the-coast-of-choshi-1948-1-153/.

05/08/2026

Congrats to our young writers who stepped "into their art" and out of their comfort zone.

In partnership with UMMA: University of Michigan Museum of Art, students visited multiple art pieces and created stories as if they had jumped into the pieces themselves!

To celebrate these authors, families played lawn games, students read their stories aloud, and many created pieces of art themselves.

It was a fun-tastic event!

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Image descriptions:

1: Two students celebrate in front of a giant statue outside.
2 and 3: Students read their own writing from books. They stand in front of smaller replicas of the art they wrote about.
4: Students gather around an activity table and a staff member leads them in the activity.
5: A student reads their writing sitting next to an adult who listens.
6: A family stands and sits in from of a statue.
7: A student is in a tree and an adult stands next to the tree.
8: A group of adults sit together smiling.
9: A student and an adult play a giant color matching game together on the lawn. Another adult stands watching the game.

05/01/2026

Come write and create with us this summer!

Our Summer Programs schedule for Washtenaw County is up on our website at 826michigan.org.

Registration for Summer Programs opens today, May 1 at 6 PM EDT.

Visit
https://www.826michigan.org/programs/summer-programs for more info on our summer programs.

05/01/2026

Our April newsletter is here!

Check it out at:
https://conta.cc/4uf7XTs

Email from 826michigan Updates from 826michigan Adventuring Through the Art World by Megan Gilson, Washtenaw Program Manager Imagine visiting an art museum but instead of walking around, you have to s

04/24/2026

The weekend is almost here. Are you planning on reading a good book? Let us know what you are reading or tell us about your favorite kinds of books.

Here's a poem about reading from one of our student writers.

"How to Be a Good Reader"

To be a good reader you have to read.
You can read long things,
short things,
scary things,
mushy love things,
but you have to read.

Glue your eyes (not literally) to the paper
and read. Read different things
so you know what you like.

Don't read exciting things at bedtime. You
won't get sleep, so you can't read.

'Cause when you read anything,
your imagination is awesome.