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Arts & Culture : People

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Flipping the Script on Teacher-and-Textbook Instruction

David Sands Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Detroit Future Schools artists use technology to open classrooms into spaces where students take ownership of their education.

Taking Young Poets To A Bigger Stage

David Sands Wednesday, July 09, 2014
A Flint-based arts group is helping young poets hone their talent with a goal to compete in an international youth poetry festival and slam contest. Along the way, they're making connections and spurring on other young spoken word artists.

Making Piano Accessible for All Kids

Kelle Barr Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Piano Labs gives some of Kalamazoo’s most vulnerable kids and young adults a chance to make music and become pianists. 

Teens Transform Raw Ideas into Poignant Performances

Melinda Clynes Friday, March 28, 2014
At Matrix School of Theatre in southwest Detroit, young people write and perform original plays that entertain and educate, bringing to the stage crucial issues in their lives. 

Hip-Hop: Unifying Detroit Youth

Allie Semperger Thursday, February 13, 2014
Hip-hop gets a bad reputation, but a look outside the mainstream, at a small but powerful program for Detroit youth, provides a whole different view.

Casey Stratton

Melinda Clynes Sunday, January 05, 2014
Casey Stratton, music program coordinator and instructor at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Grand Rapids Youth Commonwealth, strongly believes that music is important to all cultures as a way of expression and to keep their stories alive. He is helping youth create their own stories as they learn music and build relationships with caring adults through the Music Makers program. 

Kathy Catania

Kelle Barr Sunday, January 05, 2014
Decades ago, Kathy Catania and her husband Jerry laid the groundwork for today’s Benton Harbor arts district. Their pride and joy is housed inside a Victorian building, circa 1898, now home to Main Street Glassworks, where glass is blown, children grow, and art is internationally renowned.

Tori Pelz

Kelle Barr Monday, December 02, 2013
CultureWorks Institute for Creative Arts is a Holland-based center with art at its heart and Tori Pelz at its helm. She oversees hundreds of underserved 6th to 12th grade students from the Ottawa and Holland public school districts who come hungry to learn creative arts that they would otherwise not have the chance to experience. 

Marjorie Kuipers

Kelle Barr Friday, November 01, 2013
Marjorie Kuipers is concerned for kids who do not have enough food, who lack coats, boots and mittens to warm them, and who lack the opportunity to spike their grades with no-cost tutors or share what they learn with their families. Kuiper is the executive director of Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities, an organization that provides academic and social enrichment. She cares deeply about making a difference in the lives of struggling families.  

Liz Youker

Kelle Barr Sunday, September 29, 2013
Liz Youker, educational director of the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, wants to ensure that every elementary-aged child in Kalamazoo Public Schools has an opportunity to play the violin, cello, flute or oboe. Working toward that goal, she oversees Kids in Tune, which she considers a great career accomplishment.

Alice Brinkman

Veronica Gracia-Wing Monday, August 19, 2013
Alice Brinkman, executive director of REACH Studio Art Center in Lansing, approaches her role as a leader with passion. And although leadership doesn’t come as naturally as she would like, Brinkman is determined to confront difficult situations and learn better ways of doing things all in the name of growing a great neighborhood art center.

Anita Bates

Melinda Clynes Monday, August 19, 2013
As a working artist and ninth grade art instructor at Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies, Anita Bates engages teens in the art of expression and creativity. She sees progress when students push themselves and make critical decisions independently with respect to their own art and design projects. 

Terry Blackhawk

Melinda Clynes Monday, August 12, 2013
Melding together the talents and energy of professional creative writers and students, Terry Blackhawk, Ph.D., founder of InsideOut Literary Arts Project, has been helping to turn Detroit kids into authors and poets since 1995. 

Lorena Slager

Melinda Clynes Monday, August 12, 2013
Lorena Slager taught art after graduating from Calvin College with a degree in art education. Then she opened a coffee shop, The Sparrows Coffee Tea & Newsstand, and most recently co-founded the Creative Youth Center, a nonprofit that empowers kids through writing. As executive director, Slager proudly works from the center’s new digs on Wealthy Street. 

Dennis Nordmoe

Amy Kuras Saturday, August 03, 2013
Dennis Nordmoe of Urban Neighborhood Initiatives believes that real change starts small in creating a better environment for a neighborhood, a street, or even a block. Since 1997, he’s worked to empower residents of the Springwells neighborhood to improve their community.
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Can systemic racism impact infant mortality?

Zinta Aistars Friday, June 12, 2015
Even when controlling for poverty, education level, and tobacco use of a mother, maternal and infant health outcomes are far worse for minority populations than European-American women. What's causing the continued disparities? And what can West Michigan do to ensure all babies born here have the best chance of reaching their potential? Zinta Aistars reports on Strong Beginnings, one local program working to give all families a fair start.
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Company Supports 4th Grade Field Trips to Lake Michigan

Victoria Mullen Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Parents working more than one job or odd hours, a lack of funds, and no transportation often prevent kids from experiencing one of Michigan’s incredible natural resources. For the majority of west side Grand Rapids elementary school kids, Lake Michigan is sadly out of reach. OST has teamed up with Grand Rapids Public Schools to give fourth-graders at west side schools the opportunity to experience the big lake firsthand.
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Youth Decide Where Grant Dollars are Spent

Anya Zentmeyer Wednesday, August 13, 2014
For Grand Rapids students who serve as trustees-in-training on the GRCF Youth Grant Committee, giving back to the community goes hand in hand with empowering students to succeed. 
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