What happens when ninety second graders learn all about plants
and the pollinators who love them?
Fun abounds, and stories bloom. (Truly though, the puns write themselves!)
Each year, 826michigan collaborates with a school to craft a one-of-a-kind Young Authors’ Book Project. When choosing our school partner, we look for a group of students who are ready to deepen their engagement with the curriculum. Some years, like this one, we also find a community partner to help us bring the project to life. This year, we found students who were already studying the pollination process at University Preparatory Academy, Mark Murray campus, in Detroit, and we turned the dial on their learning all the way up by connecting them with their local pollination experts . . . our friends at the beautiful and iconic Belle Isle Conservancy!
Through this program, our intrepid crew of 90 young writers took a field trip to the Belle Isle Conservatory, and then worked closely with our staff and volunteers to let their imaginations run wild and craft fantastical, only occasionally factual but always delightful stories about the plants they saw and the pollinators they learned about. We worked with the second-grade band at UPA, and they really rose to the occasion.
The students brainstormed, collaborated, wrote, edited, rewrote, and wrote some more, all while putting themselves in the shoes of pollinators from around the globe. The final product? Original short stories featuring plants found in the conservatory . . . and in our own backyards, beautifully illustrated and collected in Give Them Their Flowers. (Get your copy here!)
At the release party, drafts and drawings were on display. Cupcakes were consumed. The book was unveiled to great fanfare (always the most exciting part of the party, and, quite honestly, our school year!). Parents and caregivers beamed with pride, younger and older siblings were inspired, and our young writers got to shine by acting out some of the stories in the book.
The students’ stories are not only featured in a colorful publication, but can also be experienced inside of the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle via QR codes next to the plants that serve as main characters in their narratives.
We were delighted when our friends at Fox 2 Detroit contacted us to see if we’d come talk about the project. 826michigan Program Manager extraordinaire Denise R. Ervin and partner-of-the-year Amy Emmert (Director of Stakeholder Relations & Education at Belle Isle Conservancy) sat down with Jamie Sherrod to discuss our brilliant students. Watch the full interview here!
Give Them Their Flowers was designed by Darren Cools and illustrated by Megan Rizzo at Daisy Illustrations (who, nbd, no actually very big deal, is a graduate of UPA!), this collection is sure to make readers of all ages learn a little about the process of pollination, laugh a lot, and be endlessly inspired by the world around them. Make a beeline to the online robot shop and get your copy today!
The QR codes will be up at Belle Isle’s Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory until the end of the summer. Make sure to visit, and tag 826michigan in your pictures on social media!