826michigan provides free writing and tutoring programs in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Ypsilanti to more than 3,200 school-aged students inside of their schools, at our own youth writing centers, in local libraries, and at some community centers. Each program is free, high-quality, and gives young people an opportunity to take on leadership roles.

Our big mission is to inspire school-aged students to write with skill and confidence in collaboration with adult volunteers in their communities.

 #826RobotRoundup is our spring fund drive. Throughout the month of May, we're hoping to round up at least 826 donors to help keep our writing and tutoring programs free and open to all students in the communities we serve. Please join us!

what we believe

826michigan believes in writing as:

• a process of discovery and engagement,

• an action that connects us to the world,

• a means to further personal understanding, and

• a tool to access power and build a better world.

These core values are seen across all of our programs and explain why our writing process stands apart from traditional writing instruction practices.

how we do the work

There are two common refrains heard at 826michigan:

1) Writing is good, hard, important work.

2) Writing is FUN!

The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading found that reading proficiency by third grade is the most important predictor of high school graduation and career success. The 2018 Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress showed that 55% of third-grade students in Michigan scored below proficient on the English Language Arts Test—which includes a critical writing component.

826michigan's programs are designed to lessen this gap by developing students' skills of self-expression and their sense of self-efficacy. Our project-based support provides students with a safe and creative 'third' space—between home and school—in which students grow their literacy skills, self-confidence, and the ability to express themselves.

We place a high value on structured learning experiences, but innovate upon them by making writing an engaging, interactive process wherein students can think critically and play. It is perfectly normal to see volunteers dressed in costumes as wacky characters during our Strange Mysteries Creative Writing Workshop. It is widely expected that high school students will ask thought-provoking questions while taking notes and photos on their phones as they explore the Eastern Market during our Murals in the Market Zine Making Field Trip. Each afternoon in our writing labs and at the Ypsilanti District Library, students finish their homework alongside caring adults who are invested in students' success.

Notably, we also place a heavy emphasis on amplifying the voices and stories of students across all of our programs through our publishing program which makes students' work widely available in high-quality, professionally-designed, professionally-bound books as often as six times per year.