NEA Big Read Lakeshore

NEA Big Read Lakeshore. . , Hope College's NEA Big Read Lakeshore is a community-wide reading program that takes place annually in November. In collaboration with over 50 community partners, our Lakeshore community comes around a chosen book and use this shared experience of reading, discussing and exploring the themes and topics of the book as a springboard to learn from and listen to each other., Partial funding for our Big Read Lakeshore comes from the NEA Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest., Every year, students in our partner schools across West Michigan interact with our program through creating artwork. Through the park, you will see some of that incredible artwork showcased!, This year, our book selections were Joy Harjo's An American Sunrise and Kevin Noble Maillard's Fry Bread. Both helped us focus on learning about history, specifically Native American history, and poetry or verse. We believe it is important to talk about history from the lens of "Whose history are we telling?” and "Who is telling that history?” We engaged with both authors, several experts in our own community and from around the country, and with each other through book discussion., The Impace of Our Family Heritage , Middle school students in Allegan explored personal identity through their own heritages. Students researched their family heritage and explored how their heritage impacts them and makes them who they are today. As some students may not know their heritage, we asked them to focus on their family or individual traditions. Students then needed to create a self portrait with images of things/people that helped create them and who they are today. These portraits were displayed in the school and the Allegan District Library. , [Photo collages by] LE White Middle School 7th and 8th Grade (Ms. Becky Calvert), English 12 Stop Motion Projects , Black River students in Ms. Bridget Pyle's English 12 class created a stop motion (or animation) project based on one of the poems from the collection. To view the videos, scan the QR code below. The videos vary in topic and mode, showcasing Joy Harjo's poetry in a fun, visual manner! Take a moment to watch a few. , Black River Public Schools, English 12 (Ms. Bridget Pyle),