Friday, June 6, 2008

826michigan and Ann Arbor Transit Authority announce second student writing partnership

Five young women who live in Ann Arbor’s Hikone public housing site are seeing their own creative writing published in a very unique way—on the interior of Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) buses.

This project is the second in an ongoing partnership between AATA and 826michigan and is also part of 826michigan’s ongoing collaboration with CAN (Community Action Network), the organization that oversees Hikone Community Center.

"This is just one of the many creative projects 826michigan has brought to Hikone students,” says Joan Doughty, CAN Executive Director. “They bring such an amazing energy, a freshness and enthusiasm with them; the kids love every activity 826 brings to the community center. Imagine being an 8-year-old, knowing that your creative writing work is driving around town in a bus. This project makes students feel like they truly matter in our community, and it encourages them to continue to practice their writing.”

826michigan is a nonprofit writing center that provides free academic and literary arts programs to local young people. The programs aim to teach the skill of writing but also to give students unique and creative opportunities to engage with their community, to express themselves distinctly and confidently and to prepare young people for their futures. 826michigan serves about 1500 students each year with programs like this one.

Rosie Iordanova, a Dearborn Heights resident and research technician with the University of Michigan Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, has been serving as a volunteer writing teacher at Hikone since last fall. She says, “I really enjoy being able to offer the students a new way to express themselves and all their creative talents. I think in this experience they learned that there's beauty and inspiration even in everyday experiences.”

The students’ writing will be installed on AATA buses beginning July 3 and will be featured on every single bus in the fleet until August 31.