This past month many of our lessons were centered on celebrating and learning about Black culture. CAN Art & Design hosted a lesson on Charles McGee, a Black artist from Detroit, and the kids did an exceptional job of interpreting his work.

The February issue of the CAN Kids Newsletter also included an A-Z African American Visionaries poster and tons of fun & educational coloring pages.

Featured: Brick Elementary students' take on Charles McGee's work and a picture of Charles McGee himself.

Featured right: Bryant's Teen Block team are very fortunate to call Tyla a colleague. Although she works deftly with any age group, Tyla decided in Fall 2020 that she would focus her efforts most intentionally on supporting our high school students. Tyla is directly responsible for several of our students’ academic successes, honor roll placements, and improvements in their social-emotional wellbeing- sometimes working weekends to make sure our students are getting the support they need and deserve. 

We would be remiss if we did not highlight the incredible work of some of our staff and students!

Featured left: One of our Bryant Community Center participants is excelling in her studies despite the challenges presented by virtual learning. We are proud of the work she is putting in every day and we will continue to work with her and cheer her on as this school year continues.

We are happy to welcome Kayla Samuels as our new Director of Brick Community Center. Kayla was a former CAN AmeriCorps VISTA at Brick but she took a short hiatus to get her Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan. The kids have missed her (and vice versa!) and love having her back in their online programs.

On that note, we will all miss Caroline Wesley, our previous director, and we wish her all the best in her next professional endeavor! She was a wonderful asset to our team and a great mentor to Kayla. Thank you, Caroline!

We’re proud to share that CAN's Pat Byrd Playscape was selected as a #PlayEverywhere Design Challenge grantee! We’re creating The Pat Byrd Playscape at CAN's Arrowood Hills Community Center which will combine learning and play through a series of outdoor stations. We plan to create four distinct play stations that cover four areas of learning: 1) basketball court math mural; 2) English language arts (ELA) mural along the zig-zag wall; 3) play pavilion doubling as a science station; and 4) sprawling sidewalks featuring geography facts. This will transform an everyday space and help infuse more equitable play opportunities in Ann Arbor! We are excited to start this journey with @RCWJRF and @kaboom!

Pat Byrd served as Office Manager of the Arrowwood Hills Cooperative office for 35 years until her recent retirement in 2020. During this time, she has impacted generations of families as a staple in the Arrowwood Hills community.