er! · learn new things, desire to want to know more, do more, and give more. Through our 2017 adventures, girls have been stretched far be- yond anything they could have ever imagined

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Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan

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Your Community, Your Voice

MULTI-CULTURAL NEWS SOURCE

Volume 07, Issue 01

Founders Arlene & James Washington (2005-2010)Publisher Season Press LLC (2010-)Editor-In-Chief Sonya Bernard-HollinsGraphic Design Fortitude Graphic Design Reporters/Photographers Travel Writers Academy Contributing Writers/Photographers Tirrea Billings

Kyra Hudson Yasmine Phirbi Tori Zackery Samantha Zahrai

For more information visit www.comvoicesonline.com

write: Community Voices

P.O. Box 51042Kalamazoo, MI 49005or call: 269-359-7895

Community Voices is published quarterly by Season Press LLC, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Free issues are available throughout West Michigan and online at: www.comvoicesonline.com. No parts of this magazine may be reproduced without permission.

PUBLISHER’S VOICEStretching to Explore Possibilities

We had just flown eight hours over the Atlantic. In a daze of jet lag and a bit giddy with unbelief, we dropped our bags into a hotel room storage. Our tour guide gave us 30 minutes to go find something to eat and return for our first adventure.

Where would we go? Would we be able to order food? After all, we were in Paris, France!

That first day in Paris was the jumpstart to nine days of awe-inspir-ing moments. Not only would we ascend 900 feet to the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, but we would bob along the dark lagoons of Venice in a gondola. Our necks tilted back to capture the masterpiece Michelangelo created on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, and we could almost hear the roaring of the crowd in Rome’s an-cient Colosseum.

God placed in me a passion to help others discover and manifest their true gifts and purpose. In 2008, after learning of Merze Tate and her unsung legacy, I was led to found the Merze Tate Travel Club, now the Explorers.

As girls in our organization do everything from hoist the sails on a ship on Lake Michigan to present commercials to CEO’s of Whirlpool Corporation, their minds are being stretched. As girls in fourth grade place their sheets on the beds of their college dorm room at the Univer-sity of Michigan for our summer Travel Writers Academy, their minds were being stretched. Over the year, their minds would be stretched to learn new things, desire to want to know more, do more, and give more. Through our 2017 adventures, girls have been stretched far be-yond anything they could have ever imagined.

I pray you enjoy this issue! See you online!

Sonya

A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Sonya Bernard-Hollins, Publisher, Community VoicesFounder, Merze Tate Explorers

www.comvoicesonline.com| FALL 20174

The Merze Tate Explorers - 2017 Travel Writers

Kimyah Babineaux4th Grade

Arcadia Ele.

Kymeil Beard6th Grade

Arcadia Ele.

Zaria Barrow5th Grade

Winchell Ele.

Darianna Browning8th Grade

Hillside Middle

Shadae Hillsman8th Grade

Maple Street Middle

Sasha Hollins6th Grade

Gull Lake Middle

Syann Hollins9th Grade

Gull Lake High

Kennedy Hudson6th Grade

Linden Grove Middle

Alayna Kuhn6th Grade

Liberty Middle

Nya Kuhn2nd Grade

Savage Road Ele.

Shemaiah Lawler9th Grade

Kalamazoo Central High

Daija Miller11th Grade

Pioneer High

Eden Mark9th Grade

Jackson Creek High

Sanaa Olivacce-Shabazz6th Grade

Gull Lake Middle

Kynnedi Patterson 5th Grade

King-Westwood Ele.

Leah Pettis8th Grade

Linden Grove Middle

Shi’Terriona Straham 12th Grade

Marshall High

Layla Wallace7th Grade

St. Michael’s Lutheran

Aliah Ward6th Grade

Linden Grove Middle

Sierra Ward9th Grade

Loy Norrix High

Maya Daniels9th Grade

Portage Central High

Lydia Johnson7th Grade

Linden Grove Middle

Natasha MahonieCollege Freshman Southeastern C.C.

Sanai Plair7th Grade

Hillside Middle

Tirrea Billings College Graduate

Videographer

Samantha ZahraiUniversity of Michigan

-Sophomore Guest Travel Writer

Yasmin Pirbhai8th Grade

Mattawan MiddleGuest Travel Writer

Madison GremoreUniversity of

Northwestern-OhioFreshman

Featured Traveler

Tori ZackeryMichigan State

University- Senior Explorer Alumna

Kyra HudsonUniversity of Michigan

- Sophomore Explorer Alumna

www.comvoicesonline.com FALL 2017 | 5

It Takes A Village! The prayers, financial contributions, and encouragement of individuals, businesses, and foundations helped support 25 girls in their quest to Explore Possibilities through STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Media). We couldn’t do what we do without them! Thanks to these supporters and those on page 39 who made 2017 a phenomenal year of discovery!

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Photos: 1-Kim Thorpe, owner of Wet Paint and Palette; 2-Veronica McKissack and Deborah Warfield participate in paint party fundraiser; 3-Sheldon McCullough supports Explorer Girl Scouts Sasha Hollins and Aliah Ward who sold cookies to support the Explorers; 4/5-Doreen Gardner of Traci Lynn Fashion Jewelry give jewelry to Explorers; 6-Yolonda Lavender of the Black Arts and Cultural Center allows Explorers to sell concessions at plays; 7-Youth United Way gives funds for Explorers’ Study Abroad; 8-Angie Anderson, DJ with 1560 The Touch; 9-Lori Moore of WWMT with Leah Pettis; 10/11-Pastor Michael Scott prays for Explorers and leads Galilee Missionary Baptist Church to sponsor Shemaiah Lawler; 12-15-Soprano Rhea Olivacee performs during the Taste of Italy Fundraiser hosted by the Ladies’ Library Association and Monelli’s Restaurant; 16 Sonya Hollins poses with Explorer board member Maggie Zahrai who hosted a 31 Party fundraiser; 17/18-Ed and Kathy Knox host annual pool party.

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The making of fidget spinners, Nike soccer cleat soles, weapons, and more. Wow! Exceptional engi-neering technology was shown to the Explorers during Academy week at the University of Michigan. Digital Fabrication Specialist Shawn O’Grady, shared the articu-late facts and history of three dimensional printing. O’Grady also shared the abilities of the printer and its simplicity.

Imposing three-dimensional printers are used for so many things that simplify multiple areas of our lives. Take college student Amos Dudley for example. O’Grady shared how Dudley used 3D printer technology to make clear braces for himself. Companies like Invisalign were too expensive for the 24-year-old. He decided to take matters into his own hands and make them himself...for less than $60! Amos built his own 3D printer at home and only had to pay for the materials used to create the molds and models of his teeth, which is why the product he made was so cheap.

While Dudley used the technology for himself, others use it for massive audiences. The 3D printer was also used for weaponry, which O’Grady states was something that made some printer users believe that use could turn into a very bad thing. At U of M, the printers are used to make plane parts, prototypes, molds, and bat-tery packs for the school’s solar car team. 3D printers are used for medical purposes. Prosthetic teams use it to shape and mold how they want it to look.

The 3D printers are getting in the hands of surgical planning teams as well. The surgical team uses it to plan procedures to help conjoined twins and glansectomy, O’Grady said. Doctors can also use the printer to make skin for burn victims as it can be used to practice delicate and difficult procedures.

Along with medicine, the printer can be used for stop-motion animation. O’Grady shared that the movie Paranorman, used 3D printers to make characters’ faces for the movie instead of having to paint each individual mask.

The printer also can be used to reduce the weight of rocket parts. O’Grady said that the 3D printer is an, “additive form of manufacturing”. He said that they don’t requires jigs (a device that holds a piece of work), fixtures, dies, molds, machine tooling, etc.

The 3D printing machine has a lot of history behind it as well as a plethora of materials. It can print objects in different materi-als such as wood, ceramic, concrete, plastic(most used), chocolate,

and metal. These materials can be used to make your 3D objects more durable, or feel a certain way.

When the printer came out, it lead to changes being made in the future. Below is a timeline of 3D printer discoveries.

3D Print History1983- First 3D printer made.

1991- First desktop 3D printer created.

Around 2000- self-replicating 3D printer launched.

2009- First commercial 3D printing kit developed by U of M.

2013- RoboHand invented after a man lost three fingers in a wood shop incident.

O’Grady says that one of the earlier models of the RoboHand

was made using a cheaper 3D printer. The invention of the Ro-boHands led helped in the prosthetic-making field. The Gartner group created a hype cycle that was used to a lot with the 3D print-er by identifying which energy computing system were worth in-vesting in.

Overall, the 3D printer information presented to the Explor-ers was very exciting! We were given mini 3D robots to take home and even saw how the printer works. O’Grady helped our group make a 3D printed fidget spinner. The learning experience we got was amazing. All the Explorers left knowing more about one of the latest inventions in technology.

3D Printing...The Future at a ClickPhotos and story by Eden Mark

Explorers learn the history of 3D printing. Digital Specialist Shawn O’Grady gives a hands-on demonstration and shares a digital model of his coworker.


Creating a book with Jamie Vander Broek

Jamie Vander Broek helps people make books from scratch. She is the Librarian for Art & Design at the University of Michi-gan, and works with the Stamps School of Art & Design.

In her spare time she devours interiors blogs and magazines. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a Minor in Italian from Wellesley College, and a Master’s degree from U of M’s School of Information in Art and Art Museum Librarianship.

By Zaria Barrows and Kynnedi Patterson

Here are the steps to make a Pamphlet Stitch book: Step 1- Pick a cover color.

Step 5 & 6- Thread your needle and sew the book down the middle and tie a knot.

Step 2 - Take 3 sheets of the same size paper and fold it in half.

Step 3- Make 3 holes on the fold.

Step 4- Cut a string 3 times the length of your paper.

Step 7-Print words on the cover.

Clockwise: Kynnedi Patterson and Zaria Barrows pose with Jamie Vander Broek; Kennedy Hudson learns how to print a book cover; Darianna Browning and Leah Pettis sew their pages; Sasha Hollins shows her finished product; Daija Miller...still sewing; Leah Wallace already on her second book!


My time in Japan has been nothing short of amazing. I have

learned so many new things about myself and the different ways that community revitalization can happen at home and in the world around me.

Before leaving for Japan, I thought of community revitalization solely as efforts to improve the livelihood of people. I didn’t think about the fact that it could mean improving the people themselves.

Ishinomaki lab serves and empowers the community through design. During our orientation, we were asked to describe what “design” meant in our own words. I remember saying something about innovation, thinking up something new. Chiba San ex-plained that Ishinomaki lab approaches design as a way of solving problems for their community. If they see a need in the community they try to find a way to address it using the tools and resources around them.

The most important part is that they teach this “Do It Yourself ” approach to other people in the community; empowering them by giving them the support and skills they need to begin engaging with sustainable problem solving through simple infrastructure in-novation. Specifically, with their “Bento Box” they facilitate oppor-tunities for self-discovery by creating a space where young people are encouraged to mess up and grow from their mistakes in the design process.

This emphasis on building the individual’s capacity as a way of providing a service to the community aligns with the mission of the Brightmoor Makerspace, which was described by Nick to be “Building Creative Confidence”. Brightmoor gives children the op-portunity to experiment with creativity and unlock potential they may not have believed they had before.

For as long as I have been passionate about community service I have wholeheartedly believed that service should in some way empower the individual or teach them a new skill in order for it to be meaningful and sustainable. My goal in any service project is to be in equal partnership with individuals. And to help facilitate their own empowerment through means such as providing a plat-form for their voices to be heard, teaching them a new skill, etc., so that they are able to sustain the change once I am gone.

During my time working with my group and the team at the lab I can be a testament to the transformative nature of the creative experience which is the basis of both the Makerspace and Ishino-maki Labs respective missions. Coming into this trip I wouldn’t have described myself as a creative or innovative person. It had been so long since I really took the time to tap into my creativity in my adult life which has been so focused on school and work.

Being in the lab took me out of my comfort zone in ways that I hadn’t expected. After working with the power tools and building a box I felt stronger and honestly believed in that moment that I could do anything that I put my mind to. After using the pieces in our test Bento kit to create the awesome shelf that I made, I real-ized that I actually have a lot of great ideas that I should be more confident about.

Earlier on in the day I suggested my shelf idea to the group and it was ignored. But when I finally got to put it together everyone saw that it was a really great idea. When I work in teams I’m usu-ally a conflict mediator. I contribute my ideas and insights but will quickly concede to a group members alternative idea or opinion as a way to minimize conflict in the group. I try to find middle ground that everyone in the group can agree on if at all possible.

With the shelf and in other instances on the trip, I realized that I had a lots of great ideas that could have used more consid-eration. The confidence that I have gained in myself and my ideas has inspired me to speak up more and stand more firmly behind my insights and ideas.

Overall, I can definitely see myself using what I have learned about myself and community revitalization efforts in my life and my work beyond this trip. I am so grateful for the opportunity to learn from the expertise, insights, and feedback of our wonderful partners at the lab and hope that we can reciprocate that when and if our partners at the lab visit Michigan.

Learning to Help Others Through Study Abroad By Kyra Hudson- Explorer Alumna and U of M Student

Kyra Hudson, a charter member of the Merze Tate Explorers (Travel Club), is an international trav-eler. A sophomore at the University of Michigan she is majoring in politi-cal science. She poses here with her sister, Kennedy, a current Explorer.


By Aliah Ward

DETROIT(MICHIGAN)- The Sobriety House was established in 1964 and is still going on today. The Sobri-ety House, located at 2081 W. Grand Blvd., used to be a house that a family lived in, but it was turned into a place to help people. It is now a place for people with drug and alco-hol addictions. Jeanine McIntosh is the ex-ecutive director and she also is also my aunt.

“I like being the boss!” McIntosh said during my interview with her at the House.

To stay at the Sobriety House you must be 18 years old or older and a male. An eli-gible person can stay there for up to 90 days. The patients there choose to come, they are not forced. During the day, the patients liv-ing in the house are invited to participate in six different small groups and activities. These different groups help the men to get on the right track and help them to stop their drug and alcohol addictions.

“Some of the groups are mandatory for the men to attend, and there are some that they can choose to go to,” McIntosh said. She added that some of the men ride in vans to go to doctors appointments, meetings, and

“I Love My Job.”An Interview with Jeanine McIntosh of Sobriety House

more. Also, at night, the men get to watch movies before they go to bed. There are at least two workers on duty at all times. Some work-ers stay overnight to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

Some of the 44 patients at the Sobriety House have visitors who come and they are allowed to sit in the front and talk or in the backyard. Sometimes on the weekends, the men get passes to leave and visit their fami-lies or friends. The Sobriety House has a Fam-ily Day, and the patients are able to have two guests meet them at the Sobriety House, but guests can not go in their rooms.

There are also cameras all around the house so that nothing sneaky or bad would happen without anyone knowing. Some of the workers used to be drug addicts themselves, but now they are not. My aunt says that the workers like helping the men and it helps them to stay on the right track.

“People know that they are cared for,” said McIntosh, who is really nice to her patients and workers.

The Sobriety House statement is, “Some-body here cares.” Because someone does care

(those who work in the House) and want to help the men recover, Mcintosh says, “I love my job!”

Explorer Aliah Ward takes her writing skills on the road for an interview in Detroit.

Originally a psychology major, Marianetta Porter soon realized that wasn’t her calling. After taking a required art class during her first year in college she thought, “Cool, I can make everyone’s Christmas presents.” In-stead, she found her passion. Forty years later, she is working as a professor of Art & Design at the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.

As a little girl she loved to doodle and draw, though she did not think it would end up as her career. She now gets inspiration from poetry, music, books, and states.

“When you read there is a lingering trace, and I try to recreate that,” she said.

When Professor Porter went to Ghana, Africa her art was forever changed. While there, she met two little boys who asked if she knew her history. She responded, “Yes.” One boy then said, “If you know your history then you know you survived.” Now all her works celebrate the history and struggle of Africans in America. Her work ranges from fans used in Afri-can American churches to bags that can be used to pick cotton.

Porter has a Masters in Fine Arts for Textile Design from U of M, and a Bachelors in Fine Arts from Hampton University. She has won The Smithsonian Senior Research fellowship Award, the Smithsonian Laure-ate Award, an AT&T NEtwork Grant, and the Atlanta Life National Arts Competition Award. Through the way she talks you can tell that she loves what she does.

“If you follow your curiosity you will surely find your passion and place,” she said.

“Find Your Passion” An Interview with Artist Marianetta Porter By Maya Daniels

Explorers pose with Professor Marianetta Porter at the University of Michigan. www.comvoicesonline.com FALL 2017 | 11

A Dream Come True

Kimyah represents the Merze Tate Explorers as a travel writer in Orlando, Florida where she shares of her family trip to Disneyworld.

ORLANDO (FLORIDA)-Every year my family plans a vacation, and this year was the best family trip I have taken. On June 24, 2017 my family and I took a trip to Orlando, Florida.

My parents and 10 other family members had made plans for us to go to Disneyworld and some other places. We had to drive all night and most of the next day to get to Orlando. When we got there, we stayed in a seven-bedroom home with some of my other family members who came with us. The house had a swim-ming pool, hockey, and pool table.

We visited downtown Orlando where we got to see the NBA’s Orlando Magic’s stadium. My dad, who is an architect, took pic-tures of the different buildings.

Another cool place that we went to was called Disney Springs. It had lots of restaurants and fun things to do. My sister and I went to Legoland. She had the most fun with that because she got to race the car that she made against other kids’ cars.

I liked the contests the best. I was in a hula hoop and a Simon Says contest. And even though my parents say I don’t listen, guess who won the Simon Says contest? I did!

We went to this place for golfing called Gator Golf and they had real alligators there. We also saw a turtle. But the best part of this trip was going to Disneyworld.

By Kimyah Babineaux

We had to ride a ferryboat to get over to the park where the first thing you see is the big Cinderella castle. It was a lot of walking, but we went on rides, met some of the princesses, saw a show, a parade, and they ended it with a big firework show. My favorite part (besides meeting the princesses)was this ride called “It’s a Small World”. You go around on this boat and as you go around, it shows different children from different cultures from all around the world as it sings the song “It’s a Small World”.

To end our day, we saw the fireworks that came from the castle. They changed themes on the castles and the fireworks were so big. I liked everything about this family trip. One of my dreams came true with going to Disneyworld and I got to spend it with my family.


The Merze Tate Explorers had the opportunity to sit with a panel of female engineering students at the University of Michigan dur-ing our Travel Writers Academy week. This panel inspired us to do great things in life, whether it was engineering or not. Here’s what the women had to say about it.

Aeriel Murphy works in the field of Material Sciences and En-gineering. Her job is to test different types of metals. She chose this profession because she was in love with math and science, and it slowly grew on her. As Aerial grew up, she began doing more, such as her middle school science fair and her high school science proj-ect that lasted from her freshman to senior year.

Aeriel’s advice: “You don’t live for the moment, you live for the future. Treat your life like a game of chess, not a game of cards.”

Valerie Nwadeyi is in the field of Nuclear Engineering and Radiology Science. Her job is to build things to help her gain infor-mation about things she can not see, such as protons and neutrons. When she was in school, she was really good at math and science, but didn’t like it. She wanted to be an artist.

Valerie decided to go into this field because she wanted to do something that would benefit more than herself. She wanted to give the people something she was passionate about.

Valerie’s advice: “Don’t stress yourself out and/or be too hard on yourself...ask for help.”

Women Engineering Students Give us Words to Live By By Shadae Hillsman

Ali Mata is a Chemical Engineer. She works on developing ob-jects for space, like satellites. Ali does both hands-on and computer work in her field. She has always been interested in space science because her mom was in that field and was raised learning about it. To her it is, and I quote “ One of the coolest things in the world!!” In fact Ali has a project that is going to be launching six satellites off of a plane into orbit for two to five months.

Ali’s advice: “Be open minded...learn new things, listen to oth-er people.”

Quan Zhou is a Medical Engineer. Her job is to study cancer cells and check the safety of molecules they use in a human body. She went into this field because her family was really into engi-neering, and because of love for her Chinese culture. When Quan started, she did bench work (which is working with test tubes, mol-ecules, and computer simulation). Quan had some very inspira-tional words for our Explorers.

“Do not chase glory at the expense of your passion. Be careful what you wish for because you will get it.”

The overall experience was really inspirational and empow-ering. As young Women of Color, we often are underestimated. These women showed us that we can do anything, no matter our race, religion, or gender.

Hopefully some of us took something from this opportunity to use in our future endeavors.

During a tour of the School of Engineering, we met two col-lege students who were engineers. They told us all about what they do. An engineer is a person who designs, builds, or maintains en-gines, machines, or other public works. We saw different kinds of machines, cars, submarines, planes, carts, and more. But one thing that stuck out to me was the go-cart they made called, the Baja.

In the U of M magazine, it states that the U-M Baja (ba-ha) Racing Team had their second consecutive overall first place finish this year. They also received the Highest Honor award. When they went to California to race the other teams, they broke the record for the Baja SAE event. They scored 1007/1000 points.

Every day here I get more confidence about not giving up on things I want accomplished. The Baja Racing team hopefully want-ed to be first and they were. I am not going to give up on things so

quickly. I will keep trying until my goal is finished.The college students were great

in helping me understand the goals in life and challenges. I’m pretty sure the Baja team faced a lot of challenges. We learned that the students on the Baja Racing team worked on the Baja as a class project, and in their free time.

This is one of the main things I like about visiting the College of En-gineering. I really liked it there and learned valuable lessons.

Engineering = Never Giving UpBy Kymeil Beard


It was a sunny day, and the Merze Tate Explorers were on the University of Michigan’s Blue Bus, headed to the Matthaei Botani-cal Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan. When we got there, the do-cents talked to us about the water and organisms. We learned a few words at the garden, but one word caught my eye—macro inverte-brate. It means an animal without a backbone that is large enough to be seen without a magnifier.

Explorers then put on our water shoes, boots, or and flip flops to head to Fleming Creek. We put water from the creek into test tubes, then we took the tube and, with a PH tab, waited ten minutes to see how clean the water was. After we finished, we went into the stream and looked for different organisms that we put into a con-tainer. We had to name what kind of organisms we found. Some people found fish, water striders, dragonfly larvae, and freshwater snails.

Is the Water Healthy? Water Experiments at Matthaei Botanical Garden By Layla Wallace

I am a Junior Explorer in the Merze Tate Explorers. We get to travel around the world. This summer we visited the Botanical Garden at the University of Michigan. When we got therewe got to be scientists. That was fun! We climbed into the Fleming Creek and scooped up things from the water. When we stepped into the creek, it was very muddy and sticky. We put the water in a small container and looked to see what we could find. In our container we found a water strider and a baby fish. We also tested the water to see if it was healthy. I liked going in the water the most out of all the things that we did!

What I Liked About Matthaei Botanical Garden

By Nya Kuhn

Another word my group learned was Nitrates. Nitrate nutri-ents are needed by all aquatic plants and animals to build protein. When plants die by streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds they use up the oxygen in the water. That means that over night, high growth and decomposition rates reduce available oxygen for aquatic spe-cies.

At Fleming Creek we also saw lots of trees and plants. There were a couple of butterflies, birds, and frogs. On one half of the creek there were rocks, and on other part of the stream was dirt.

We recorded our data. My group found our water sample had a nitrates rating of 5 ppm, and a phosphates rating of 1 ppm. The DO saturation rating was 41%, and the PH rating was 8 ppm. The final report, was that the water in the creek was healthy and good.

The Explorers pose at the Matthaei Botanical Garden. Right from top: Layla takes notes; groups observe their findings; Nya takes photos of their findings; Zaria dumps water from boots; team collects water samples.


Nya’s Botanical Garden Word Match

Docent Tells you how hot or cold the water is

Nitrates Animals with no backbone that you can see with your eyes

Fleming Creek

All human and animals need this to survive

Phos-phates

Aquatic plants and animals need this to build proteins

Macro-inverte-brate

Tells you if water is acidic or basic

Oxygen Nutrients needed for plant growth

Tem-perature

The name of the water that we tested at the Botanical Gardens

pH The professional name of our guides at the Botanical Gardens

A. Temperature B. Macroinvertebrate C. Oxygen D. Nitrates E. pH F. Phosphates G. Fleming Creek H. Docent

Answers

“I kind of get the smell of paint and rubbing alcohol, it’s a strong smell,” Explorer Darianna Browning said as we sat in an in-teractive presentation. Michelle Krell Kydd, a fragrance and com-munications expert, and public speaker, came to the Chrysler Cen-ter at the University of Michigan to share her profession with us. We did an exercise called “Smell and Tell”, where we learned how to smell and taste “correctly” to a have an experience or memory.

She brought us a sample of an oil called Vetiver, which is known to make people feel happy and relaxed.

“Vetiver (mixed with water) is like lemonade in India,” she said.

She told us that people find it to be really good. Most of the girls in the group liked it and some didn’t. But we all made some type of connection or memory to it.

She then brought out a perfume, but didn’t tell us what it was. She wanted to know everyone’s opinion of it. Someone said it smelled like outside after it rains. Others said it reminded them of garlic, paint, rubbing alcohol, mold, and other smells.

As she watched and heard our reactions, she started to tell us why we made certain connections to a smell or taste. Girls started to share stories about their opinions to prove her point.

Kydd told us that people fall in love with smells because of the memories. Remembering the (reactions) smells have was the key part of the presentation. Something that really stood out from it was that not many people remember things from smell, but (smell memories are) just as good as remembering things by sight. She told us to be curious...and forget about what you like or don’t like, because it’s all about making great experiences for you.

“Smells don’t lie,” she states. Being curious is going to give you bad moments but some of

the best moments come from that. You would never think that you could have a good moment just from a smell.

She advised us not to be afraid to travel and try different things. She also told us that smell can be used just as good as hearing, see-ing, feeling, and tasting.

Kydd left us with a good message. “There’s no rule to smell, smell is everything.”

Smell and Tell An Interview with one of World’s Best Trained Noses

By Shemaiah Lawler

Fragrance expert Michelle Krell Kydd spent time with Explorers to share the importance of smell and taste.


During our Academy week, the Merze Tate

Explorers took a trip to the Henry Ford Museum/ Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. We had a ball and saw eye-opening things. In order for us all to have an opportunity to experience the majority of the museum, we split into four different groups. This was beneficial because even if we were not able to see everything, we could hear about it from the other girls.

Outside the museum we experienced Greenfield Village. We were able to participate in the moving of the Detroit, Toledo, & Milwaukee Roundhouse. We literally turned a railroad turnabout that was used in the past for “getting trains on the right track.” We also were able to join in on some old-fashioned games like hula-hoops and stilt walking.

Our favorite parts of Greenfield Village were the plays and skits. On the Susquehanna Plantation we watched the play, “How I Got Over: True Tales of Hope and Endurance.” Another skit was about a bunny, a bear, and a wolf. Although it seemed like a silly story, it actually has a deeper meaning behind it based on the selling of slaves.

The inside of the museum was just as extraordinary as outside. There was so much to see and do that we couldn’t decide where to go first. We found the bus that Rosa Parks sat on. Parks refusal to give up her seat in Montgomery, Alabama led to a bus boycott in 1955.

The docent told us the story behind the bus and how it came to the museum. She even told us that Barack Obama came to the museum to sit on the same bus. This was something that surprised us all. After the bus, we walked around and saw things from the Jim Crow segregation era in the United States. It was real bad. We saw original “Whites Only” and “Colored Only” water fountains and waiting rooms. There was also a Ku Klux Klan costume that scared us.

The focus of the museum is the history of Henry Ford and the auto industry. There are lots of old cars, trains, and planes.

The coolest exhibit in the museum was the Dymaxion House. It was a type of house built after World War II when there was a housing shortage. It is in the shaped of a dome and looks like it should be from the 21st Century. Information by the exhibit said it was “designed to be the strongest, lightest, and most cost-effective house ever built.”

A Day at the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village Photos and story by Shiterriona Straham, Kennedy Hudson, Sasha Hollins, Leah Pettis, and Darianna Browning

Explorers had a day of educational adventure as they learned history through the eyes of Henry Ford. Students helped assemble a Model T, pulled a train track, acted in a play about the Underground Railroad, and participated in a skit in an old-fashion classroom, and other fun!

The Merze Tate Explorers have gone a lot of places. As far as Canada and as close as Kalamazoo College. This time, we have traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to the University of Michigan’s campus. We explored the campus through a variety of tours and activities. We visited the Matthaei Botanical Garden, the Henry Ford Museum, and took a tour of the College of Engineering where we met amazing women in the field. Our visit to the campus was organized by Deb Taylor, director, Women in Engineering.

When we first arrived, we could already tell that the campus was huge. We later found out it covers 3,211 acres. The Blue buses run throughout the campus, free of charge. The bus is blue all over with a yellow “M” on both sides. When we first got on the bus it was mostly empty, but it quickly filled up with people. Whenever the bus came, we would have to rush to get in before it left us...which happened once. The Blue Bus only drives us around campus so we took other vans and buses to get to places off campus.

They have lots of sports and recreation buildings and a couple of us girls got a glimpse of the famous “Big House”, which hap-pens to be the largest football stadium in the United States seating 107,601 people. We ate breakfast and dinner in the dining hall like real college students. We also received dorm room keys that used to scan and place a code into in order to get into our rooms and the bathrooms. In addition to our stay, we met alumna of U of M and heard a little about their careers during our visits to North campus, the engineering section of the school.

We got a chance to see the world’s largest free standing Rubik’s Cube (created by U of M stu-dents). Students who helped work on the proj-ect met told us about the design process and the struggles they went through to make it. Over the week, the Explorers had a well-rounded learning experience and had fun all in one. Some of the girls now want to apply to U of M in the future.

One place that we visited around campus

Academy Week at the University of Michigan

By Syann Hollins, Lydia Johnson, Alayna Kuhn, Daija Miller, Sanai Plair, and Aliah Ward

was the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. When we first arrived, we could hear some very interesting country music playing through the whole park. We saw many different food trucks lined up (ones that we had never heard of before). We saw one food truck named “Sweetwaters” that did not have donuts like the Sweetwaters in Ka-lamazoo. We smelled really good at the festival because of all of the delicious food at the food stands. As we walked into the festival, we noticed a stand giving free blue and yellow cupcakes for everyone in honor of the university’s bicentennial. The festival was filled with people, some were dancing, some were singing, and some were eat-ing. Sometimes we took walks around campus where we saw many pieces of art and sculptures. We also saw all the other college stu-dents walking and jogging. When we walked around and saw all the old buildings, it made us feel like we were college students.

The dorm we lived in was called Mosher-Jordan Hall (we just called it MOJO). Last year we spent our academy at Kalamazoo College. There are many similarities about the two colleges. There are many differences to. At K-College, the bathrooms were inside the four-bed suite. At MOJO, 14 people or more share just four bathrooms, three showers, along with three sinks. At K-College we had a physical key to our rooms, but at MOJO, we had a card and a code! We had to be careful not to lock ourself out. Explorer Sasha Hollins did that...twice.

“When I locked myself out of my room, I was mad. So never lock yourself out of your room,” she said.

One final difference is that MOJO has more variety of choices of food than at K-college and I appreciate that because I don’t eat a lot of foods like pork, eggs, etc. The similarities of the colleges was that everyone had a roommate. At both campuses, we had a lot of fun playing ice-breaker games and spending time together. Dur-ing both academy week sessions we met very inspiring women and learned a lot of life lessons.

“I felt very excited when I first came to U of M,” said Aliah Ward. “I could not wait to see what happened next. Both Alayna and I had our moms at U of M as chaperones. At different times in the day, we met up in the lounge to have a meeting or study our 50 states, landmarks, continents and oceans, and the test about the life of Merze Tate. We also talked about what we would do the next day and what we enjoyed that day. We also had a speaker talk to us in the lounge.

“All in all, we had a really good time and really enjoyed our experience. I had a great time at U of M!”


The Explorers experienced campus living while serving as travel writers during the 2017 Travel Writers Academy.

When the Merze Tate Travel Club began in 2008, the first 12 girls learned that Merze Tate had traveled the world twice. They learned that she spoke five languages, was an expert in disarmament, wrote books about international politics and history, and taught as a history professor at Howard University. This native of Michigan did so many things that inspired us.

How could a woman born in 1905, do so much in a time when being a wom-an—an African American woman—had its own social and political challenges?

After researching Tate, I’ve learned that she had a bucket list, even before the term was coined. She grew up on a farm in Blanchard, Michigan, and walked to school three miles each way. She was named valedictorian of her high school when she was in 10th grade. The youngest of her small wooden schoolhouse, she wanted more. In order to go on to college, she needed to complete 11th and 12th grades, something Blanchard schools did not offer at that time.

Without her mother or any family, she secured a job as a maid in a house in Battle Creek, Michigan. She worked for her room and board in order to complete 12th grade and go on to college. She did that, and more; becoming the first African American graduate of Oxford University (1935).

What gave her the drive and determination to do what so few others even imag-ined? It all began during her three-mile walks to school each day. During her treks through rain, snow, or heat, she memorized the Gettysburg Address, studied the continents, and even dreamed of going to the moon. Her desire was to make it visit each of the places in her geography books and more. And she did!

The one dream she had, that was not fulfilled, was to travel into outerspace. She thought that dream would come true when Pan Am offered registration tickets to their first passenger trip to the moon. Tate purchased a ticket. But, the experiment didn’t come to fruition during her lifetime. In 1996, she died of a heart attack in her Washington D.C. home.

Her legacy lives on The Merze Tate Explorers are on a mission to visit the places she visited and

more. In July, six Explorers traveled to Europe on a study abroad journey with more than 30 others from Kalamazoo, thanks to Cindy VanLieu, a teacher who organized the trip. Explorers have yet to travel to outer space, but they had an opportunity to interview the first African American women astronaut, Dr. Mae Jemison, thanks to the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

Some Explorers are on their way to making history, and on the way, they are meeting history makers and those who write about it. In January, Explorers had a private interview with Margot Shetterly, the author of Hidden Figures.

Many of the original Explorers have completed college. Others are on their way and are traveling the world through study abroad initiatives (some are featured in this issue). The young girls in the summer Travel Writers Academy get a taste of college as they live on a campus and explore new places and meet inspiring women.

Through it all, I have been blessed to have taken my career in journalism to a new level; a level of giving back to youth while helping them find their passion (and filling my bucket list at the same time). It was my elementary school teacher, Tom Hansen, who took students like myself to Niagara Falls, train rides to Chicago, and other places our families couldn’t afford. These experiences allowed me to expand my mind to possibilities. Next year we celebrate 10 years as an organization with a reunion where we will celebrate, visit new places, and check more off our bucket lists.

Travel Writers....Home and Abroad By Sonya Bernard-Hollins, FounderMerze Tate Explorers

Above, I checked a visit to Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, France off my list as we toured Europe; below, mailing postcards

off to our sponsors! Thanks everyone!

Merze Tate poses at Oxford University after her graduation in 1935.


Clockwise: Explorers pose with Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison at the Air Zoo; Explorers at the University of Michigan with Margot Shetterly, author of the book, Hidden Figures; Explorers eat gilato in Italy; Explorers at the colosseum; Posing in Vatican City; posing in M-City

after a ride on the world’s first driverless passenger van, created at the University of Michigan.


Annual Unveiling Event a Success! The Explorers celebrated their 5th annual Girls Can! Magazine during an unveiling and exhibit reception held August 27, at the Girl Scouts Headquarters in Kalamazoo. Nearly 200 came out to support the girls, vote on their exhibits and themed tables, and find learn of the 2018 adventures!

Above: Explorers pose next to the Girls Can! 5th Anniversary Edi-tion; left, girls selected to study in Hawaii in 2018 pose in celebra-tion!


The Explorers earn nearly $4,000 in scholarships for study abroad , scholastics, and presen-tation prizes! Above left, Sha-dae Hillsman is recognized for earning high school credits, and above right, Shi’Terriona Stra-ham, Sierra Ward, and Syann Hollins earn high school credit for their study abroad to Eu-rope. Center, Explorer Natasha Mahonie is presented the Senior Award and celebrates 8 years as an Explorer. Left: Explorers march in to event; Adiah Jones is awarded Best Chaperone Award; Below left, Alayna Kuhn performs; below right, Sanaa Olivaccee Shabazz thanks Sonya Hollins for her award.


Family, Community Help Celebrate

Above: Explorers share their exhibit on the Botanical Gardens, Disney, the Henry Ford Museum, the University of Michigan and Spain!


Students worked with parents and women from the community to design their own themed tables; presentations to parents such as Atiba Ward, and others helped to make the celebration a memorable one for the nearly 200 in attendance!


By Tirrea Billings

I could honestly write a book about the nine days I spent in Europe down to every detail, but that would take quite a bit of time (and it is already past the deadline as I am writing this piece). Nonetheless, for my reflection, I do not want to focus exactly on where we went and what we did there. I want to focus on the why.

Like most 20-somethings who are filled with energy and wan-derlust, I have always dreamed of traveling the world. I know that may sound cliché, but who wouldn’t? When the opportunity was granted to me to take this trip with the Merze Tate Explorers, I was elated. Me, traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. I thought I would never see the day! Sure enough, I was going. My wildest dreams were finally coming true.

I got my passport, bought brand new luggage and an entire wardrobe (because I must look cute while I’m in PARIS!). I worked triple-hours at work so I could freely splurge on a bunch of sou-venirs I probably didn’t need, got a brand-new travel journal to record every single moment of this once in a lifetime opportunity, and before I knew it, I was on the plane headed to Paris, France from Charlotte, North Carolina.

From there, over the course of nine days, we traveled to Paris, Versailles (in France), Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, and Vatican City (in Italy). What a dream come true. Over the course of those nine days, I documented every moment, every feeling, emotion, thought, and experience. I wanted to be 100% intentional and re-ally take in everything and live in the moment.

From doing that, I learned that traveling gives you a new per-spective on life and has made me reevaluate the things I desire and want to accomplish. It was so refreshing to get away from my nor-mal, everyday routine. This whole experience was so humbling. I am more appreciative, empathetic, caring, and I have a new-found-love for exploring new places and engaging with people and cul-tures that are different from my own. I have never felt true fulfill-ment until this trip, and I can’t wait to experience this feeling again during my next adventure.

On our last day, I wore a black tank-top that read: “black & abroad.”. To me, it was more than just a shirt, and that slogan was more than just words. It serves as inspiration for more black people to travel and see the world, to lift up the black community through exploration. According to a study by the Institute of International Education, minority students make up a very small percentage of people who study abroad. An even smaller percentage of that is

black students, which only account for 5% of students who study abroad. That number is low. So, I wore that shirt not only to represent myself and the small percentage of black people who study abroad, I wore it to serve as inspiration to show people that we do travel. Representa-tion matters, and I was proud to show off my blackness abroad.

To travel is to live. There is no truer sentiment than that. I went to the highest point of the Eiffel Tower, walked the aisles of Notre Dame, and finally saw the Mona Lisa after searching for two hours in the Louvre. I explored the halls of Chateaú de Versailles where King Louis the XIV’s palace (the largest palace in Europe) stood tall. I rode taxi boats and gondolas around my favorite destina-tion: Venice, a beautiful city of 114 islands where I bought purses. I ate my weight in gelato in Florence, took the famous “leaning pic-tures” at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, saw the immense Statue of David, and nearly died from walking through the Colosseum in 100-degree weather in Rome. I was in awe of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City —it was all the biggest blessing I have ever received.

I am beyond grateful that I got to not only ex-perience going abroad for the first time, but I am also grateful that I got to experi-ence it with a group of young girls in the Merze Tate Ex-plorers who were inspired to write and travel the way Mer-ze Tate did.

So, the why? Why travel? Well, the question should be why NOT travel? The world is big and varied and beautiful. Ex-plore it. There is so much to see, do, and learn. More importantly, traveling helps you grow spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. It expands your horizons. And ultimately, it leaves you with stories and unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime.

Where to next? We shall see.

Representation matters, and I was proud to show off my

blackness abroad.

Black & Abroad


Viva España!

By Sanaa Olivacce-Shabazz

My family traveled to Spain in June because my dad was graduating from Universidad Europa with his Master’s Degree in Sports Management. We traveled by plane from Chicago to Dub-lin, Ireland and then continued to Madrid, Spain. It took us a total of nine hours to get there.

We stayed at the Novotel Hotel Madrid Center, which had a delicious breakfast and very kind employees. We went on lots of adventures like going canoeing on a lake in Retiro Park. This was a large estate initially owned by the Spanish Monarchy, which was turned over to the state in the mid-1800s for everyone to enjoy.

We also took the metro to Plaza De Sol where we saw the World-Wide Pride festival being set-up. Street performers did roll-er skating tricks, including one where volunteers lay down in the middle of the plaza while the skaters jumped over them. We also got souvenirs, delicious meals, and creative Bubble Tea drinks at Playa del Sol.

During our trip, we decided to visit Barcelona for a day. We traveled on a high-speed train called Renfe Train. Along the ride, we saw lots of Gothic farms, old buildings, and pretty landscapes. We toured the city on a Hop On Hop Off Double Decker bus where you could plug in earbuds and listen to the interesting facts about the hidden gems of Barcelona.

We stopped at a Cable Car Station called the Teleferic de Montjuic that took us up to the National Museum of Catalan Art. We then stopped at Sagrada De Familia Church made By Antoni Gaudi in the late 19th century. It is still unfinished and will take another 50-80 years to complete. Our last traveling bit of Barcelona included the Football Club Barcelona soccer stadium and their of-ficial store.

My dad’s graduation ceremony was on the field of Real Madrid stadium. The ceremony was in Spanish but there were headsets with a translation in English. I was very proud to hear my dad’s name and see him on a screen as he graduated.

Our last moment of Madrid was looking out at the city from our favorite café, El Horno de O’Donnell, while eating a delicious chicken empanada. We took an shuttle to the airport and traveled back to Chicago. It was a wonderful experience and I wish my fel-low Explorers could have been there too!

Sanaa’s Travel Tips •Ifyouwantanauthenticexperience,takeasiesta(nap)in the afternoon when it’s hot. Have a light snack of Tapas and plan on having a late dinner after 9 p.m. •Ifyouwantaplacethathaslotssouvenirshops,great authentic food, and Bubble Tea, Plaza de Sol is the BEST PLACE.

•LearntheSpanishlanguage!

•Bepreparedtowalkaroundveryoftenandwear comfortable shoes.

•TortillasinSpainareVERYdifferentfromQdoba’s. Expect a round, thick omelette with potatoes and ham.

Sanaa and her parents traveled to Spain to attend her father’s graduation from Universidad Europa and experience its beauty, culture, and history.


Traveling internationally was a dream of mine and being able to do that at the age of 13 was doubly excit-ing. Never would I have thought that I would be in Paris, France walking the streets and seeing the sites.

When I first stepped off the plane, I knew that I was very fortunate to be able to have this wonderful experience. The six of us from the Merze Tate Explorers had the opportunity to study abroad to Europe. Our first stop was Paris. Even though we were all tired and trying to figure out the time difference and jet lag, we all knew that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Soon as the plane landed, we hit the ground running. Our first stop was the Eiffel Tower. We took our luggage to our hotel and then took a ride on the metro. The metro was so crowded, hot, and sweaty. After making it through security and a large long line of people, we finally made it to the top of the Tower. The view of the city was amazing. Everyone was in awe of the atmosphere. So many things happened while we were up there.

“I saw someone get proposed to, someone gets a spanking, and heard my coexplorer Syann get Happy Birthday sung to her,” said Atiba Ward, one of parents who chaperoned our trip.

The Eiffel Tower was originally created to stand for 20 years when it was first erected because the structure was disliked. Every year more than 7 million people visit this beautiful landmark. And it is still known as the centerpiece of Paris.

We also visited the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It is known for its fine designs and how they have the center of Paris marked outside of it. The cathedral is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture, and it is among the largest and most well-known church buildings in the world.

After we visited Notre-Dame Cathedral, we headed to the Louvre Museum. It is the world’s largest museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. Approximately 38,000 objects from prehistory to the 21st century are exhibited over an area of 72,735 square metres (782,910 square feet). The Louvre is the world’s third most visited museum, receiving 7.3 million visitors in 2016 and also exhibits the Mona Lisa.

The Mona Lisa is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci that has been described as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world”. The Mona Lisa is a wonderful painting but when you see it in person, you lose the interest that you had before because of the small size and how hard it is to see because of the large crowd of people.

This trip made me feel like I could have the chance to do any-thing. Europe is one of the most amazing places that you could ever visit.

By Shemaiah Lawler

From top: Explorers jump under the Eiffel Tower; Nortre Dame Cathedral; Everyone puts their feet at Paris Point Zero (exact center of the city); Explorers pray in Cathedral; Headed to see the Mona Lisa and other art in the Louvre Museum.

First stop...Paris!


On July 8th in Paris, we boarded a Thello high speed train to Venice. We would spend the night sleeping in a couchette car. Couchette cars have beds that folded against the wall and come down to sleep or sit on. Usu-ally there are two to six couchette beds per train car.

All six of us in our car had at least three bags of luggage each, so it made the room really crammed. It was challenging to get luggage in and still have enough space to sleep. After hard work we did it. The bathrooms weren’t the best, but we all had to make it work with the two bathrooms for our sec-tion of the train.

Once arrived in Venice, we gathered our luggage, left the train, and walked to catch a water taxi. You’re probably wondering why we were taking a water taxi opposed to a regular taxi? Well, Venice is made up of 118 islands where each bridge represents a new is-land. All of these islands are located on the Venetian lagoon, so all means of their transportation is on water.

On the boat ride to our island, Lido, three of us got motion sickness. One of the three of us threw up. Sierra Ward and me drunk water and hoped that the ride would soon be over. Once the boat arrived to Lido, everyone got off, gathered all the luggage, and followed Osciri, are awesome tour guide, to the hotel.

We arrived at the hotel in Lido Di Venezia and we put all of our luggage in the storage room because none of our rooms were ready. We were able to go out for about thirty minutes for a bit of free time. Some if us found a shop to grab a snack. My group found a café where we each got a croissant. They were so good!

After we had walked some more, we found a gelato shop. We each got two flavors. I ended up getting Oreo and mint (my favor-ite). We then rejoined with the other more than 30 people in our group and headed to a water taxi that we would take from Lido to Piazza San Marco also known as Saint Marco Square.

Once we got to Saint Marco Square, our tour guide told us to, “go and get lost and find different shops and places to eat”. We found was a place to eat lunch. We went to a very nice restaurant where I had spaghetti, and others got pizza and salmon. Mr. Atiba Ward got squid ink pasta as his lunch (very different). After that, we went to some other stores and purchased clothing, souvenirs... and more gelato. (We ate a lot of gelatos!)

After our break of a couple of hours, we had to meet back with a new tour guide who walked us through a well-known monument called the Doge’s Palace. The Doge’s Palace was the seat of power for the Venetian Republic. In this wonderful building, there were courts, administrative offices, courtyards, grand stairways, ball-

Gondola Anyone? By Natasha Mahonie

rooms, as well as prisons on the ground floor. The Doge’s Palace was the home and headquarters of the Venetian Republic for ap-proximately 700 years until 1797 when the city fell to Napoleon. The Doge’s Palace has been a museum since 1923.

We then went inside Saint Mark’s Basilica, a church of the Ro-man Catholic Archdiocese of Venice. It is the most famous of the city’s churches and one of the best known examples of Italo-Byz-antine architecture.

After seeing the church, we headed out for gondola rides throughout Venice. I was terrified for my life, honestly. I rode on a gondola with Tirrea Billings, Mr. Atiba Ward, his daughter Sierra, Shemaiah Lawler, and Shadae Hillsman. Mr. Ward knew that I was terrified because I kept thinking that the gondola would tip over... and I can’t swim! Mr. Ward continued to play and rock the boat back and forth the entire ride.

I think that if you are going to ride in a gondola, it should just be a couple who is married, because it would be great for a roman-tic getaway. After the boat ride we got more free time, but before we were officially released, we went on the top of building to see this beautiful view of Venice. With the rest of our free time we simply shopped, got more gelato, and bought souvenirs.

For our last opportunity for free time, we went for dinner. We had a pasta first, then a pork dish with fries. For dessert we had apple pie. After dinner we took a taxi boat back to our hotel and got ready for the next day. Now that I think about it, the gondola ride was the best part. We laughed a lot throughout the ride.

Above, Natasha (left) sits in gondola with Sierra Ward; Atiba Ward enjoys squid ink pasta; Explorers take in Venice view.


We took a four-hour bus ride from Florence to Rome. When we got off of the bus we were bombarded by street vendors who crowded you like you were fresh meat in a lion’s den. They would ask you to buy waters, umbrellas, scarves, etc.

As I looked around, there were people of all cultures. There were American, African, Indian, Arabs, and others. It amazed me how so many people from everywhere would gather to see some-thing from hundreds of years ago.

Our group had to walk down this curvy brick road (and I swear I saw about three people trip). The Leaning Tower, the Baptistery and the church were located together in a square area surrounded by a short brick wall.

When I turned the corner into the entrance, I saw white build-ings and really green grass. When we saw it, I began to hear, “ooh”, and “Oh, my God.” You could even hear a couple gasps.

The closest thing to us was the Baptistery, which is the largest in Italy if I may add. This is where almost everyone was baptized. Next to it was the church, Pisa Cathedral. You were not allowed in the church if you were not baptized.

And finally, was the Leaning Tower. I now regret thinking that everyone was exaggerating about how much it was actually leaning. It turns out that the builders knew it was leaning after they finished building the second floor. It is still unknown why they decided to continue the building even after discovering their faulty work.

We took a couple pictures in the entrance, then of course Osh (our tour guide), said, “Andiamo” (which means, “let’s go”), and we all followed. We went inside the Baptistery and there were two floors. The windows were stained glass and there were pillars hold-ing it all up. The room was quite circular and there was a dome at the top. In the middle was a hollow hexagon-shaped pit with a small statue of a man holding a cross coming out of it. Behind that was a seating area with candles on a platform. To the left of that was an elevated altar with stairs leading up to it.

About ten minutes after we arrived, a man walked in and start-ed singing. We were all confused, but soon we realized that he was doing it to show how the room echoes and makes one voice sound like many.

We then headed Cathedral, which was under some construc-tion. This church was humongous. In the front section were pews and an altar. Around the church was several altars with candles.

Finally, was the Leaning Tower. We didn’t go inside, but we did get to take pictures really close to it. It took us about twenty minutes to take pictures of us pushing the tower. This was because there were hundreds of people taking pictures so we had to find a spot.

While this was happening, there was a member of our group who got emotional. His name was Phillip Hegwood. He said that, “Pisa was very, very emotional to me only because my grandmoth-er always wanted to take me there before she passed.”

Even this small place has a big impact on certain people. On the right side of the entrance path there were a bunch of shops and cafès. I personally wanted to stop at the gelato shop because it is now my favorite dessert. I got chocolate and coffee gelato.

Overall, it was a good experience for me and hopefully for my peers as well. I highly recommend it.

By Shadae Hillsman

Shadae Hillsman stands at the entrance of Pisa’s historic Leaning Tower, Baptistery, and Pisa Cathedral. Below are the altar of the church, and Nicola Pisano Baptistery pulpit. Below the Explorers hold up the Tower.

Andiamo....Let’s Go to Pisa!


Benjamin Franklin said, “Either write something worth read-ing or do something worth writing.” All six of us Explorers did something worth writing about after 10 days in Europe. We got the opportunity to explore Florence, Italy and all the beauty that comes with it.

We visited art museums and saw amazing sculptures created by famous artists and sculptors. We learned the history of Florence and got the chance to cook dinner together. Our two adventurous days in Florence were both amazing and beautiful.

On the first day we visited two museums, the Uffizi Gallery and Gallery of the Academy (Galleria dell Accademia). The Uffizi is one of the world’s top museums. There were enormous paintings and sculptures. We saw The Birth of Venus created by Sandro Botticelli. This is considered the most famous art piece in the museum. Dur-ing the Renaissance, artists were creating naked statues because of how much they valued the human body during this time.

In the Accademia, we saw the famous David by Michelangelo who said, “The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine per-fection”. The David stands 17 feet tall. On the path to the David we saw Michelangelo’s unfinished statue known as Michelangelo’s Slaves (or Prisoners) because it looks like they are trying to escape out off the marble.

After visiting the museums, we had some free time to shop and explore the beautiful city. We visited main squares like Pi-azza della Signoria, where a copy of the David stands. Other art there like the statue of Peseo holding Medusa’s head (by Benvenuto

Cellini). In the back of that sculp-ture you can see where the artist has a portrait of him-self.

On our second day in Florence we walked and took a tour of the city. We walked along the Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), that connects the Uffizi Mu-seum to Palazzo Pitti.

Then during our free time, Osh our guide for the trip, took us to a real leather and gold shop because Florence is known for leather.

Life is like a book, it can be as exciting as you make it. While in Florence we tried lots of new things that we would not have tried otherwise. A couple of girls ate rabbit, and they said it was pretty good. We tried many flavors of Gelato (which is kind of like ice cream) such as pineapple, Pistachio, peach, raspberry, etc.

Living to the fullest is the only way to live. We explored Paris, Venice, Florence, and Rome, and even got to sleep in a couchette, which is an overnight train. This trip has sparked the adventurous side in all of us and hopefully we will have more opportunities to travel out of the United States. We’ve learned a lot during this trip. Sharing it with you hopefully will encourage you to travel.

Florence Do Something Worth WritingBy Syann Hollins

Above: Syann poses next to art in Uffizi Museum; Below (l to r) Explorers pose with Michelangelo’s David; Cellin’s Peseo; Palazzo Vecchio, and Syann looks toward Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge).


During my trip to Europe, I had the pleasure of visiting the Apicius International school of Hospitality in Florence, Italy. The school was founded in 1997 and partners with the Worldstrides Educational Tours so that the students will have a place to learn how to cook authentic cuisines from the countries they visit . Ac-cording to their brochure, their mission is for students to “gain ex-pertise in the areas of business, hospitality and tourism, culinary arts, wine studies, and publishing”.

When I was told that we would be cooking our own Italian dinner I knew that this would be a great experience. I was beyond excited. I had heard so many great things about the food in Italy and to actually have the opportunity to cook it would be the frost-ing on the cake.

After a very long walk, we arrived at the culinary school with a warm welcome from chef instructors Leonardo, Desiree, and Isabel. Our group of more than 30, was split into three different groups and we would be learning how to cook a four-course meal from scratch! I could tell by the expressions of the other students in my group that they were just as thrilled.

Once in our separate kitchens, the chefs showed us step by step how to prepare each course. Fellow traveler Lindsey Killingsworth, 15, said “I felt really nervous on how it was going to turn out. And I really wasn’t sure if everyone was going to do their job right.”

The first course was pasta. We did this by rolling the dough with our hands and a rolling pin. Next, we cut the dough with a noodle cutter to shredded them evenly. I volunteered to spread the dough and prepare it to be put through the noodle cutter. A rich

sauce was made for the top of the pasta as well as a layer of parme-san cheese. A fresh tossed salad was prepared for the next course and some people got a chance to shred carrots and clean the let-tuce.

Next, we cooked a meatloaf with hard boiled eggs rolled into the middle of the loaf before cooking. A zesty tomato sauce was drizzled on top. Finally, we had a dessert that was very sweet and mellow and tasted similar to cornbread.

Jade Smith from Paw Paw High School said, “I was completely excited and I couldn’t believe that it was actually something I was doing. Making pasta in Italy was never something I thought that I would do.”

After we prepared the food, we were allowed to take our seats at a table. The chefs served us the food in the order that we pre-pared it. Smelling the food as they bought it out just made your eyes water, and I was completely at a loss of words. It was an awe-some experience and in turn, being served once the meal was com-plete. Overall, everything was absolutely amazing!

I learned a lot about myself and realized how much I really enjoyed being hands on in the kitchen. I was happy to see that ev-eryone was enjoying themselves and this was definitely something that I want to try at home, and it was one of the highlights of my trip to Europe.

Smith stated, “It was an amazing experience and the food we had was stellar!”

We were able to experience the entire process of creating and then enjoying the meal. This was such an amazing opportunity and I am so grateful for the whole experience.

Yes, Chef! Cooking in

Florence, ItalyBy Sierra Ward

Sierra captures Explorers in action during the cookingschool experience in Florence, Italy.


Tuesday, July 11th of 2017, The Merze Tate Travel Club said “addio” (goodbye in Italian) to Florence, and “Ciao” (Hello in Ital-ian) to Rome. As we tugged our luggage and made our way to the bus and each of us had a big smile on our faces. The ride to Rome from Florence was about four hours.

Along the ride our tour guide, Osh, showered us with facts about ancient and modern Rome.

“The city of Rome has 2,800 years of history, but even though it has 2,800 years of history, we can only visually see 2,600 years of it (history),” he said into a microphone unit on the bus. He said, in some areas of Rome you could see remains of buildings from all eras of its history. He shared that Rome once was the biggest city in the world and its buildings were completely covered in marble of all types and colors.

We passed small Medieval towns, and we found out that the majority of our American laws and architecture are based on the Ancient Roman laws and buildings. We passed a hospital that had been there since 285 b.c. Surprisingly, it happened to the same hos-pital where our guide was born.

When we first got off the bus in Rome, we all dropped our luggage off at the hotel and we headed out. Our hotel up the block from where Julius Ceasar (dictator of the Roman Empire) was stabbed and killed in 44 BC.

While in Rome we visited historic places such as the Colos-seum, the Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Fontana della Barcaccia (Fountain of the Ugly Boat) just in front of the Steps.

At the Colosseum, another tour guide took us around the en-tire building and told us facts about it and Roman history. The Col-osseum is a round-shaped building located in the center of the city. The arena was completed in 80 AD and was used to host compe-itions between gladiators, animals, and even naval ships. The pub-lic could enter one of the 76 gates, with four gates for authorities and officials. There also were two boxes for royalty.

It is not visible to us today, but there were trap doors every-

When in RomeBy Shi’Terriona Straham

where in the col-osseum to lift the animals from their underground wait-ing areas under the stage onto the arena floor.

During the Middle Ages, the Colosseum began to crumble and collapse. Eventually, it was covered in vineyards, orchards, weeds, and plants which made it look somewhat like a botanical garden.Natural disasters such as earthquakes have destroyed walls of the building. Today, thousands from around the world visit this land-mark and admire its existence.

While we were there, the weather was very hot (nearly 95 de-grees) and we did a ton of walking. Everyone in our group pushed through it and felt that all the sweating and soreness of their feet was worth it in the end.

After the Colosseum we made our way to the Trevi Fountain, the largest water fountain in the city of Rome. This water foun-tain has its own personal building as a backdrop. It is said that if you throw a coin into the fountain and make a wish, it is guaran-teed that you will return to Rome and your dream will come true. When we visited the fountain, the entire staircase was filled with people there to see the beautiful site... and make their wish.

Overall, Rome was a wonderful experience to have. If I ever have the chance to go back, I definitely would take the opportunity. I think everyone should be able to learn about the Roman history while in Rome.

*Thank you Mrs. Sonya, for having faith in me and choosing me to go on the trip to Europe for this awesome experience.

Shi’Terriona poses in front of the Fontana della Barcaccia and the Colosseum. The Arch of Titus and ruins from

Roman Forum also were places she discovered in Rome.


This summer, I had the privi-lege to study abroad in Rome for six weeks while taking courses for my major in advertising. I attended American University, which was taught by a professor from Michi-gan State University. I had never been to Rome before and was so excited to live in Europe and take my time to really learn and adapt to the culture.

My study abroad program pro-vides students with a unique expe-rience to live in an apartment with other students rather than a dorm

or hostel. My apartment was in the Trestavere neighborhood, a more quiet and spacious area across the Tibre River. Our location was great because we were within walking distance from the center of Rome. We could simply hop on the tram for a few minutes to get us

Study Abroad, Discover Europe By Samantha ZahriMichigan State University-Junior

anywhere in the city.

One of the aspects I really enjoyed during my time abroad was becoming so familiar with a place that was completely new to me just six weeks ago. For ex-ample, shoppers bring their own bags to the grocery store and if you forget one, you have to buy a reusable bag. And, locals will call you out for being too loud or obnoxious on a train (my friends and I were shocked). We quickly learned, however, that people are gen-erally more quiet than Americans, and Rome even has quiet hours that begin at 10 p.m.

Another special aspect of living in Rome was becoming “lo-cals” at our favorite restaurants and cafes. Since we had class from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., we became regulars at a deli near the University. The Sandwiches from Brothers were smothered in pesto, spicy sa-lami, and whatever else could fit on it. Best of all, it only cost 3 euros—definitely a must if you ever find yourself in Rome!

Another unique activity I recommend is to bring a picnic to the Colosseum around sunset. There is a ledge with an amazing view and if you go on a week night it will be less busy.

One amazing feature that is consistent across all of Europe is how easy it is to travel. My friends and I definitely took advantage of this and went somewhere new every weekend. We spent three days on the Amalfi Coast, visited the wineries in Tuscany, stopped in Florence, hiked in Cinque Terre, and visited Paris, Amsterdam, and Switzerland.

The Amalfi Coast was breathtaking and the water was such a deep blue. We spent a day in Capri and a day in the town of Posi-tano. In Positano, we rented a boat for a few hours and just spent a relaxing day on the water. We visited Cinque Terre on a day trip and had some unfortunate weather that was bad for swimming, but kept us refreshingly cool while we were hiking.

We traveled to Amsterdam near the end of our stay in Rome and were greeted with some cooler weather that was much needed (after our lack of air conditioning for six weeks). In Amsterdam, we took our time to enjoy the city and sit by the canals. We were, also, able to do a canal trip that took us all around the city.

Lastly, Paris was an incredible time. My father is from France, and it had been seven years since I last visited my grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins who live there. My two friends and I stayed with family members where we had easy access into the city with a quick train ride. It was a much needed stop during my time in Europe!

If you get the chance to travel abroad, please take it! You learn so much about yourself and grow to become more independent as you learn to deal with various situations that get thrown at you.

Ciao! Safe Travels!

Clockwise; Samantha Zhari (second from left) poses with study abroad students in front of the Monument of Victor Emmanuel II in Rome; Italian gelato ice cream and pizza; Samantha (second from left) poses with roommates in Rome; Samantha at wine tast-ing in Tuscany.


Tori Zackery, Explorer alumna, takes on an internship in San

Francisco and checks the Golden Gate Bridge off her bucket list!

She poses on the bridge and with the bridge in the distance that

connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean.

The bridge was enveloped in fog. My vision was impaired, barely allowing me to see two feet in front me. In its entirety, the bridge was 8,981-feet and an ever-present crowd of tourists made the trek daily. I joined them as I walked across the Golden Gate Bridge. I could now check that off my San Francisco Bucket List.

At preparation for my senior year at Michigan State Uni-versity, I flew 2,396.8 miles to the colorful city of San Francisco, California for an internship. For two months I would work and live in the Bay Area as a marketing and social media specialist for Feast Studios, a video production company. Professionally, academically and socially, California proved to be an eclectic hub for growth.

Along with six other Michigan State University students, I resided in the historic Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco. Victorian-style homes and luxury hotels dotted the streets of the area, reminiscent of Nob Hill’s affluent reputation during the Gold Rush era. Cable car lines could be found up and down the many hills of the neighborhood. Those cable cars proved useful when I could no longer bear the long, steep 30 minute walk to my internship in the heart of Central Market. I soon learned that San Francisco was built on more than 50 hills and is only seven miles long by seven miles wide.

As a marketing and social media intern, I regularly gath-ered, edited and managed original video content for distribution on social media. My assignments starkly contrasted my previous editorial experience. As a journalism major, I had served as a reporter, blog writer, and content editor. Never had I indulged heavily in video production, but my passion for storytelling

Golden Gate Bridge...Check!By Tori Zackery-Michigan State University-SeniorExplorer Alumna

helped make for a smooth transition. Adjustment was a constant theme during my time in San

Francisco. Upon my arrival to the Golden State, I realized that San Francisco summers felt different from what I had grown ac-customed to in Michigan. The city experiences microclimates, meaning that while the rest of California enjoyed seasonably warm weather, San Francisco often stayed in the cool 60s. Thick clouds of fog were usually to blame for chilly weather and I found myself ditching sundresses for hoodies. The city is cov-ered in fog more than 100 days a year. I soon learned that while it may be 70 degrees in one area of the city,, it could be just 50 degrees a block away.

San Francisco boasts of its reputation as one of the high-est cost-of-living cities in the United States, making everything from eating to shopping an expensive feat. Luckily (and taste-fully), I became acquainted with the city’s many food trucks in an effort to cut down on food costs. $2 tacos anyone?

Living in San Francisco meant being in proximity to some of the world’s most innovative companies. A block down from my office building was Twitter’s headquarters. I visited Face-book’s campus after a quick train ride, and Google was only a short drive away. Being next door to geniuses in the media and tech industry was inspiring and further cemented my belief in the west coast as a center for creativity and invention.

As my internship ended, I felt confident in my ability to succeed in a big city. Outside of the skills I gained on the job, I felt strengthened by the relationships and networks I built while exploring and working in the city. This upcoming fall, I will en-ter my final semester at Michigan State and know that my skill sets and work experience will give me an edge when starting my career. I also know that my love for traveling has played a vital role in my academic and professional development. From internships in California to study abroad in Spain and Germany, I have never shied away from an adventure. I have began every journey with an open mind and as a result, I have entered adult-hood with knowledge that spans the globe.

HICKORY CORNER (MICHIGAN)- Madison Gremore read maps, checked the tire pressure and oil levels of her team’s 1935 Packard as she served as a teammate in The Great Race. The mad dash for cash and prizes was an endurance (not speed) rally, which began in Jacksonville, FL and traveled miles of back roads before cross-ing the finish line in Traverse City, MI on July 2.

Gremore, along with other high school team members from West Michi-gan and adult drivers, were representatives of the Gilmore Car Museum’s high school Garage Works program. They drove in a 1935 Packard on the highly competitive 2,400-mile nine-day road rally made up of only vintage automobiles.

“The trip was a once in a lifetime ex-perience and was extremely beneficial to someone like myself that is planning to pursue a career in the automotive indus-try,” said Gremore, a 2017 graduate of Comstock High School. She will be at-tending the University of Northwestern Ohio to earn an Associates in Automo-tive and High Performance Technology.

Girl Power in Great Race

Madison Gremore

was one of two

females to compete

with a team during

The Great Race.

Photos courtesy of

the Gilmore Car

Museum.

Her ultimate goal is to race for a dragster super-modified race car..and possibly her own race car. She learned about car racing and repair from her grandfather who was a racecar driver.

The ‘Old School’ road trip was a good start to her dream. Her team was among the 149 teams who hailed from as far away as Australia and Japan to navigate autos dating from 1916 to 1972. The event chal-lenges teens to serve as navigators for three adult drivers without the aid of a GPS, cell phone or maps of any kind. Their goal is to earn some of the $156,000 prize money and scholarship funds. The Gilmore team came in fifth of the 7 X-Cup teams and 98 overall.

Gremore earned a perfect time on her leg of the race, which earned her an ACE sticker, an honor typically awarded to sea-soned competitors. In addition, she was awarded a $1,400 scholarship for college along with another teammate. The overall team was given $1,000 for all the help they provided in set up at each town.

The team included 2017 high school graduates: Gavin O’Dell of Delton, Jakob Taylor of Otsego, Coleman Rodriquez and

Jacob Onderlinde, Comstock 9th grade homeschool, Comstock. The adult drivers included Bob Johnson of Hastings, Brad Wire of Gun Lake, Mike Onderlinde of Comstock, Fred Colgren, Gilmore Car Mu-seum Education director, and Brittany Wil-liams, Gilmore Car Museum Social Media director.

“We saw people from all over the world and different walks of life compet-ing against each other. Seeing how cars can bring people together like this is truly spec-tacular,” said Gremore.

Contributed by Jay Follis, Director of Marketing-Gilmore Car Museum

6865 Hickory Road, Hickory Corners, MI 49060 269-671-5089 GilmoreCarMuseum.org

Midway between Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek

Ranked #1 Auto Museum in the Nation.

TripAdvisor reviews

Over 400 Extraordinary Vehicles 7 Independent Auto Museums

One 90-acre Historic Campus

Michigan History Day Merze Tate Travel Writers Winners

Each year the Merze Tate Explorers sponsors the Best Entry in Use of Arts/Music Award. In April, three groups were awarded $100 each for their entries in the state competition. One went on the compete in the national competition. Congratulations to these winners! And thank you to the Historical Society of Michigan for helping keep Michigan history alive through these and other great programs!

Lizzie Mathias of Ada- SeniorAwardThe Personal Is Political: Alison Bechdel’s Feminist & LGBT Activism

Avery Daguanno & Raegan Dick of Berkley- Junior AwardBayard Rustin: The Man History Forgot

Amelia Chen & Laura Thielman of Whitehall- Youth AwardWe Shall Overcome: Pete Seeger Stands for Folks Through Song

In 2012, when I was 8 years old, my brother hiked Mt. Kili-manjaro. I assumed that I would eventually do the same. Al-though we sometimes follow in one another’s footsteps, I had no idea what a hike to the Roof of Africa actually meant...or how hard it would be. Just three years later, at age 11, I stood at the top of Kilimanjaro.

Mt Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in all of Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world! Its nickname is the “Roof of Africa.” At its highest point, the mountain pushes up through the clouds and peaks at 19,341 feet.

I started training about six months before our trip by hik-ing and working on the stair stepper at Bronson Athletic Club. A few months before our trip, my mom and I began working with a personal trainer who made us push heavy sleds, do squats, and build up our stamina. It was very difficult but helped a lot on our leg and body strength (that definitely payed off).

THE HIKE Day one was a normal hike through the woods. There were

trees, animals, farms; it was quite nice, relaxing even. Everyone’s spirits were high, and we were all excited about the days to come.

Day two, the scenery had converted from forest to bushes and scrubs. It was as though we grew taller, making it seem as though the vegetation shrank. Over the next two days the shrubs and plants got smaller and less common until they disappeared and left us in a cold desert. The first three days of the climb were actually somewhat easy.

Days 4 through 6 were harder. We became tired, partly be-cause the air was thinning and made it harder to breathe. The day of the summit was crazy. We went to bed at 6 p.m. and woke up at 12:30 am. We had a tiny breakfast of crackers and water and left at about 1 a.m.

It was silent and oh, so beautiful. The stars lit up the sky and the moon slowly slid from horizon to horizon. It was a long night. It was very boring, so to keep myself entertained I sang songs un-der my breath and told myself stories. It actually helped. When we took breaks, we lie down in the gravel and snow and ate a small snack or drunk some water.

I believe it was around 6:30 a.m. that the sun rose. If you think you have seen a magnificent sunrise, you have never seen this one. The sun slowly rose above the clouds lighting the sky and erasing the darkness. While the sun rose to my left, the moon set to my right at the same time, creating the most dramatic sunrise and moonset I have ever witnessed.

About 20 minutes after the sun rose we summited. The view was breathtaking. One can see the clouds rolling in beneath you, and glaciers seemed frozen in time. The view from the top of the mountain was more than spectacular. It is a once-in-a-lifetime view and it makes the difficult trek up the mountain worth it.

For my father and I, that moment was one of the most emo-tional of our lives. He was with my brother when he summited and had cried then. His tears flowed once more for me and would not stop. His arms folded around me in the best hug ever.

“I was very proud of Yasmin for reaching the top. It is quite an accomplishment,” my dad said.

I felt victorious and joyful. In that moment, I knew that any goal is within reach.

Climbing Mt. KilimanjaroBy Yasmin Pirbhai

Yasmine Pirbhai set her sites on climbing Africa’s Mt. Kiliman-jaro and did it with her family. Photos provided


TATE-STONE TRAVEL WRITERS ACADEMY 2018 APPLICATION FOR AUDITION

Applicants will be scheduled for interviews once application is complete and all necessary forms are turned in before March 30, 2018. Academy Week is June 25-29th, 2018

Desired Position: __________Jr. Explorer(4-5th grade in Fall 2017)- Day camp __________Explorer (6th-10th grade in Fall 2017) __________Ambassador Leader (11th-12th grade in Fall Desired Team: __________Reporter (writing focus) __________Photojournalist (photography focus) __________Videographer (video editing, filming)

Student Name: ______________________________Age:_____Birthdate:_________________

Parent/Guardian Name: ____________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________

City: ____________________State:__________________Zip:__________

Parent/Guardian Cell Phone: ______________E-mail________________________________

Student Cell Phone: _____________________E-mail________________________________

Current School: _________________________City___________________, State:_________

Current Grade: ________ Grade Point Average (middle and high school students)

Teacher’s name: (4th-5th graders only) ___________________________________________

List of activities you participate in both inside and outside of school: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Along with this application, please attach: _____250 word typed essay on, why you want to be a part of this program (please include what you want to learn and what you can offer.) *100 words typed for future 4-5th graders.

____Transcript of classes or last report card

____Letter of recommendation from a teacher, organization or program leader.*Unless discussed, applications missing any of the requested information will not be considered.


Syann’s Seek and Find- Florence, Italy


KALAMAZOO INSTITUTE OF ARTS435 W. South St. 269/349-7775 kiarts.org

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Circular Abstractions: Bull’s Eye Quilts

opens September 23

Female strength is the thread running through this exhibition of 20 mixed media, painted, and photographic works. The artist’s imagery shows the power and perseverance of Chinese

women, like warriors of the Red Army & survivors of the Cultural Revolution (like Liu herself).

Women Warriors:Portraits by Hung Liuthrough November 26

$5 / $2 students / Children are free / Open Tuesday-Sunday / Free parking lots and entrances on South and Lovell streets

Roxanna Kantarjian, Carnival, 100% commercial cottons, machine pieced and hand appliqued by artist, machine quilted. Valerie Maser Flanagan, Growth II, 100% cottons,

commerical and hand-dyed by artist, machine pieced and quilted by artist.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6 EVERYONE’S A MEMBER DAY: • Free admission • Shop+class discounts • Exhibition receptionFREE PROGRAMS • Tuesday ARTbreaks • Art Hops • Teen Nights • Art Detectives • Book Discussions

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 5-8 pmSEE YOUR SELFIE BACK TO SCHOOL BASHFREE fun & activities with community partners serving families


We give a big THANK YOU to all who helped contribute to the success of the 2017 Travel Writers Academy and Operation Study Abroad. To the dozens of supporters who gave of their time, talent, and resources, you help us EXPLORER POSSIBILITIES!

For more information regarding the Merze Tate Explorers, visit our website at: www.merzetate.com, or call Sonya Bernard-Hollins, founder and executive director at: 269-359-7895.


Learn more atwww.merzetate.com

Documents

er! · learn new things, desire to want to know more, do more, and give more. Through our 2017 adventures, girls have been stretched far be- yond anything they could have ever imagined