Braiding heritage and education: Michigan program redefines paths for Native students

Group of people cluster together on the front porch of a red brick house. They represent the Indigenous Education Youth Collective group.

The Indigenous Education Youth Collective program, a research-practice partnership between U-M, Anishinaabe youth and families, and Lake Superior State University, inspires Native students with the support and direction they need to pursue higher education.

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The University for Michigan

Some of the most valuable learning at U-M takes place beyond campus. Each image here promises to take you somewhere special in Michigan, from Blissfield to Brooklyn, as U-M students and faculty create new knowledge and transform our state. Enjoy these Michigan Stories from 2024.

  • Squeals of joy

    Alumnus Damien Crutcher founded Crescendo Detroit in the city’s Dexter-Davison neighborhood in 2013 to provide after-school music and dance programming, literacy and life skill courses, and homework support to area families. Participants work with music students at U-M and attend performances through the University Musical Society. (Image credit: Erin Kirkland, Michigan Photography.) More

    A student reacts while listening to their creation during music production class at Crescendo Detroit, an after-school program for children ages 5 to 18 that develops music and dance programming to promote artistic excellence and character building.

  • Harvest time

    Midland, Michigan 10th grader Drake Robinson volunteers at Phoenix Community Farm, founded in 2018 by alumna Beth DeVries. The nurse practitioner realized that many people she worked with were not able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables. Knowing how much good health relies on good food, she partnered with a local high school to start a community garden and pay-what-you-can farm stand. Produce is utilized in the school’s culinary program as well. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More

    Boy in Michigan cap fills corn crib with produce in green setting.

  • Reality check

    Shaylee Menhennick, a first-generation college student, and eight other students from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula were the first U.P. Scholars cohort to graduate from the U-M in 2024. Scholars represented 20 high schools in 12 of the 15 U.P. counties. Menhennick graduated with a bachelor’s degree in movement science with a minor in sociology of health and medicine. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More

    A female, first-generation college student, along with eight other students from Michigan's Upper Peninsula celebrate in caps and gowns during U-M Spring Commencement in Michigan Stadium.

  • Policy advocates in training

    Students in Dearborn’s Environmental Health Research-to-Action Academy go beyond just collecting air and water quality data, and learn what to do with the valuable information. Natalie Sampson, associate professor of public health at UM-Dearborn, co-founded the community-academic partnership. (Image credit: Erin Kirkland, Michigan Photography.) More

     

     

     

    Middle school students wearing science goggles work in a lab as part of the Environmental Health Research-to-Action Academy.

  • Happy trails

    Along M-22 in northwestern Michigan, people with mobility challenges can now access breathtaking views of Lake Michigan from a 300-foot-high platform, explore rare birds and plants in a restored marsh, or lose themselves in coastal dunes and forests. It’s all part of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy’s work since 1991 under the leadership of School of Environment and Sustainability alumnus Glen Chown. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More

    Two people with mobility challenges enjoy breathtaking views of Lake Michigan from a 300-foot-high platform, thanks to the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy has created more than 3 miles of accessible trails since 2016 when the Overlook Trail at Arcadia Dunes opened.

  • Pop-up Safety

    U-M pediatrician Andy Hashikawa created the traveling Pop-Up Safety Town Initiative in 2017. The pop-ups provide age-focused injury prevention resources to children in Michigan’s underserved and rural communities, including Hillsdale, Grand Rapids, Flint, Jackson, Ypsilanti, Detroit, Addison, Durand, Whitmore Lake, Hamtramck, and some tribal communities. The initiative is part of the U-M Concussion Center and educates kids about head injuries, pedestrian safety, and preventing dog bites. (Image credit: Greta Guest, Michigan News.) More

    Children stand in a semicircle at the Pop-Up Safety town, modeled on the traditional Safety Town, a one-week injury prevention summer camp sponsored by school districts that uses permanent buildings and is expensive to develop. The the pop-up version makes it accessible to all.

  • Sweet and sublime

    U-M assistant professor of urology and beekeeper Brian Stork also is founder of Happy Hive Honey Chocolates in Grand Haven, Michigan. Proceeds from the confectionary go to  Muskegon’s Step Up, which helps unsupported young adults with stable housing, adult mentors, and other services so they can become successfully independent. Step Up was co-founded in 2015 by Michigan Medicine alumnus Dick Kamps. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More 

    Brian Stork, a University of Michigan assistant professor of urology, is dressed in a beekeeper's outfit against a backdrop of green leaves and blue sky as he examines his backyard beehive.

  • Brilliant Detroit

    Brilliant Detroit works in 18 neighborhoods throughout the city by transforming a house in need of repair into a community hub. It partners with 160 organizations to deliver early childhood education, family support, and food. More than 19,000 children have benefited from the programming. CEO Cindy Eggleton co-founded the organization in 2016 with U-M grads Jim Bellinson and Carolyn Bellinson. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More

    African American adults and children engage in play in a colorful educational setting in a living room in Detroit.

  • Lessons in resilience

    School can be a source of trauma for some students, but most schools are not equipped to meet their needs. That’s where the Trauma-Informed Programs and Practices for Schools (TIPPS) comes into play. TIPPS director Todd Herrenkohl is the Marion Elizabeth Blue Professor of Children and Families at U-M’s School of Social Work. TIPPS connects experts in social work, education, and public health to share knowledge and resources with K-12 educators and communities so that students with trauma histories can become more resilient. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More

    Ylisse Yépez, a teacher at Blissfield High School, stands between and talks to two students seated at a table in front of computers in her English class.

  • Want to teach?

    Lizzie Lockwood engages with her fourth-grade class near Grand Rapids, Michigan, upon completing the Michigan Alternate Route to Certification offered by the Marsal Family School of Education. M-ARC is designed for anyone with a bachelor’s degree interested in becoming a teacher in the state. Participants work as certified teachers for three years while enrolled in and supported by the program to earn their standard teaching certificates. (Image credit: Jeremy Marble, Michigan News.) More 

    A young woman sits at a table in a classroom of young children in a fourth-grade class at Ada Vista Elementary School near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

  • Legacy in land

    Legacy Land Conservancy, founded in 1971, is Michigan’s oldest organization dedicated to the voluntary conservation of locally important land. The conservancy counts some 10,000 protected acres. “We’ve also placed a little over 100 conservation easements,” says Susan Morley LaCroix, a 2011 graduate with dual degrees from the Program in the Environment and Department of Political Science. She is the conservancy’s land protection director, fighting climate change, helping farmers, and allowing communities access to natural habitats. (Image credit: Eric Bronson, Michigan Photography.) More