Meet Maria, Proud Parent of Aspiring Performer

Maria is the proud mother of two daughters, Carina and Ariel. Although Carina is too young to participate in the programs at the Cook Arts Center, her sister Ariel, pictured below, is very involved. After living in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood for several years, Maria has reached out to the staff at the Cook Arts Center to let us know how happy she is with our programs and services.

“Ariel has been through a lot in her little lifetime, and the Cook Arts Center makes her feel like she is doing something. The classes make her feel special and worthy. Those are important things to know as a child,” Maria said. “When I was young I felt like what I did didn’t matter, but Ariel looks forward to every day here. It pushes her to do better in everything she does.” 

Ariel, a 7-year-old who attends Bursley Elementary School in Jenison, falls in the 85th percentile in school. Although she succeeds academically, her true passion lies in the arts, especially singing, acting, and dancing. At the Cook Arts Center, she attends piano, animal drawing, hip hop, and pottery classes.  She told her mom, “I don’t want to be a trash picker or someone who works at a desk all day long. Instead, I want to be a dancer and a performer for my career.”

Maria, who is from Texas, moved around a lot with her parents, who were migrant farm workers. She attended a variety of Grand Rapids Public Schools including Franklin, Hall, and Burton. She also attended GRCC but then became pregnant with her second daughter, Carina. Although Maria needed to take time off to raise her infant, she plans to go back to college.

For fun, the family enjoys attending Grand Rapids First Church, going to the movies, and attending ArtPrize. Their favorite activity when it’s warm is going to Grand Haven to walk on the pier. Maria plans to include Ariel in drop-in programs at the Cook Library Center this summer and looks forward to continuing her relationship with the staff at the Cook Arts Center.

 “I tell Ariel that we must try hard in everything we do. We can’t just show up,” Maria said. “That way, at the end of the day, we can say we tried our best.”

Mary T., Avid Reader and Committee Member

Mary is a bright, unique fourth grader at Cesar Chavez elementary school. This ten-year-old’s favorite subjects are music, gym, and reading. Mary and her three siblings, who are ages four, six, and twelve, celebrate diversity in their family. Her mom, now a social worker, is originally from Africa. Mary’s step-father, who is from Guatemala, is an auto technician in Grand Rapids.

Mary started coming to the Cook Library Center two years ago when she was in second grade. She thoroughly enjoys the myriad of activities offered here, including creative art activities and classes that expand her understanding of science. One of her favorite things about the Library is the field trips. She fondly recalls going to Calvin College for trick-or-treating in the dorms for Halloween.

Mary is also involved with the Cook Library Center D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself) Group. In addition to the normal quilt-making activities that the students partake in leading up to Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities’ annual fundraiser, Día del Sol, this special children’s committee has been planning and creating additional items to auction off at the big event. As an integral part of this committee, Mary is responsible for making important decisions about what crafts to make and how to make them. Then, she and the rest of the committee bring their ideas to life.

One part of the craft required a field trip to Richmond Stamp Works in downtown Grand Rapids, where Mary and her team met owner and creative genius, Paul Newhof. While there, Paul showed them his unique work space and also the process of making rubber stamps. The kids particularly enjoyed the shop dog, seeing the stamp-making machine at work, and the candy that Paul so kindly shared as they departed.

In addition to the interactions that students at the Cook Library Center have with leaders, artists, and authors from the community, college students from Calvin College, GVSU, and GRCC often volunteer to tutor, help with homework, and lead  reading activities. Mary said that these students have helped her immensely with her homework, her reading comprehension, and her critical thinking.

Outside of school, Mary enjoys spending time with her friends. She enjoys having singing contests, building snowmen, playing with toy horses, watching SpongeBob SquarePants, playing with the family dogs, creating fake tattoos, reading comic books, and waking up her mother. Her favorite author is Dr. Seuss. When Mary grows up, she hopes to be famous stylist and actress.   

Teen Leaders Partner with GR Forward

On December 16, GAAH’s Teen Leaders in the Arts held a successful meeting in collaboration with GR Forward to engage neighborhood residents in developing a vision for Downtown and the Grand River.

Despite their previous efforts to involve the Grandville Avenue neighborhood (also known as the Roosevelt Park neighborhood) in the process, Jay Steffen, Assistant Planning Director at the City of Grand Rapids, said the turnout for the first meeting on December 2 was not what they had hoped. Our Teen Leaders saw this as an opportunity to inspire their peers, family and friends to be a part of the process.

Cook Arts Center Program Director Steffanie Rosalez, the Teen Leaders, and professionals from GR Forward collaborated to create an exciting buzz around the meeting and provide information-packed workshops and activities for residents of various ages from a variety of backgrounds. As a result, more than 120 people, including Cook Library Scholars, Achievers, students from Schools of Hope and their parents, filled the Cook Library Center that Tuesday. Library Director Sue Garza and her staff juggled people in groups throughout the packed facility, and consensus is that the event was a resounding success.

The main activity led by the teens was an invitation-making session. Children were asked to create informational flyers for their families written in both English and Spanish. To accomplish this, teens had to not only understand the purpose, scope and meaning behind the work of GR Forward, but also communicate that message to the children in order to engage them. They distributed the colorful invitations to their families in hopes that they would encourage an equal amount of participation at the next meeting on January 8. What’s more, the teens were invited to the city planning office to help shape the future conversation. This motivated them to spend many hours taking photographs, working on scripts for a WOODTV 8 story in which they were featured, writing an article for The Rapidian, and creating flyers. In this partnership, they will continue to be an integral part of the work done in the Roosevelt Park neighborhood.

During the same time as the youth workshops, an information session with the adults was led by multiple leaders from GR Forward. The meeting began with a short breakdance performance by three teens from Aerial Tactic, Antonio, Carlos, and Danny. The main material, translated by staff members Javier and Monica, touched on concepts such as attracting business, drawing talent, maximizing the asset of the Grand River, and creating jobs. The solution presented, to remove the dams to restore the river, was explained as a way to build recreational activities, improve the habitat, promote better water quality, enhance aesthetics, create economic opportunities, enrich underserved communities, and instill stewardship of the natural habitat within the citizens.

The presenter then showed a concept plan and asked for suggestions about how to connect the river with trails, create walkable streets, fix parking issues, and make the city a more livable, walkable place for all residents. Attendees were encouraged to remain involved in the conversation for the next seven months by attending public meetings, participating in surveys, and voicing their opinions. After the formal presentation, the families participated in visual activities gathering this feedback. Participants were eager to share their ideas and visions for downtown Grand Rapids.

As a result of this overwhelmingly positive experience with GR Forward, it is GAAH’s hope that the families in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood will continue to dialog about building a vision for the future of the city together. It is only with the participation of people from all parts of the city that groups like GR Forward can be sure to shape a more interconnected, inclusive, functional place for all residents to enjoy.

Critical Thinking at the Cook Library Center

Through a variety of tried and true methods such as market research and psychographics, media outlets deliberately target their advertising to certain audiences. Although most adults are able to consume media with this in mind, it is typically a far different story for youth. In fact, child psychologist James McNeal has established that children are by far the most impressionable marketable age due to their inability to distinguish fantasy from reality.

That is why one Thursday a month GAAH welcomes Jeff Smith, founder of Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID), to speak to teens in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood about the important distinction between reality and what is portrayed in the wide array of media that is consumed on a daily basis.

Covering topics ranging from racism to brand loyalty to beauty standards, these workshops challenge the viewpoints of the teens who choose to attend. The 90-minute sessions are packed with information and live-viewing sessions of product placement, advertisement critiques, and more. And although the concepts are new to the students, this is an exciting topic to them and they have been catching on quickly, learning how to consume media with a more critical eye.

During one workshop, after discussing synergistic product placement within Universal Studios’ ET, the class proceeded to view similar instances in The Grinch, Men in Black, Transformers, and the Hunger Games. They examined placements from products such as Phillip Morris, Hostess, Chevy, Target, Budweiser, Beats by Dre, and more. There were discussions of physical placement of the ads on billboards and blimps, on sports fields, at certain heights in grocery stores, on buildings, and even on gas pumps. Several students even came up with examples of their own.  

At the December workshop Jeff recorded some of the teens summarizing what they had learned so far. He says that next semester they will be focusing on creating their own media rather than analyzing the media that already exists. All of the students in attendance said they are planning to return.

Mimi, Volunteer at the Cook Library Center, Finds Refuge There

It’s not every day that you meet a college student quite like Mimi (aka Michelle). According to her mother, Mimi is a “book eater.” Although Mimi was a very petite child who had to ride in the baby carriage until she was almost two years old, she began talking before anyone else her age. Her mother called her a “bright child” and said that she was forming full sentences early in her development. At a young age, Mimi’s mother would have to take books away to get her to focus on other things. Even then “She would read the cereal box, the tags on the back of the sofa, and other things in the house. That's just her!" her mother explained, fondly laughing. Nowadays, even after spending a long day on homework, Mimi goes to take a break only to find herself diving into yet another book. Mimi insists that it’s “recreational reading.” Her favorite books are The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion, all written by J. R. R. Tolkien. In fact, when she first received the trilogy, she read it in less than 48 hours. 

Although she was born in Evergreen, Illinois, Mimi has lived all over the United States due to her mother’s occupation in campground management. In fact, they have seen every state in the United States twice and visited both oceans within the course of a year. Growing up, Mimi attended various schools and also attempted homeschooling throughout her K-12 education. “A lot of kids didn't like me in high school,” Mimi said. She feels that her good grades were to blame. She and her best friend Ruth, who suffers from a terminal illness, “broke the curve on every single test, making it difficult for the rest of the class to do well.”

Following the trend of her earlier education, Mimi was a student at several higher education institutions including Aquinas College and Northwest Michigan College. Mimi now finds herself studying at Grand Valley State University. This self-proclaimed “nerd” is majoring in English Language and Literature and minoring in East Asian Studies with an emphasis on Japan. She would eventually like to translate books and websites from Japanese to English and vice versa but plans to get her career started as an assistant English teacher in Japan. In fact, while studying there she interned at Rice Ball Daycare where she spent two days a week reading, talking, and playing with Japanese elementary kids. This experience created a path toward exceptional volunteerism at the Cook Library Center, where Mimi brings the same joy and wisdom to the young students in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood.

Mimi got into habit of volunteering very early, starting at a local library in Manelona, Michigan, in 7th grade. She later became involved with the National Honor Society in high school, which included volunteer hours as the service component of the program. At Aquinas College she undertook another project in order to continue receiving the Monsignor Bukowski scholarship. She traveled to Lasana, Mississippi, where she relieved people from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2008. “I helped people who got ignored,” she said, “There was one elderly couple whose shed fell off its foundation, and no one helped them to put it back up. So we pushed the shed back up and set things right.” Mimi later received a certificate for her community service.

Although her current educational experience at GVSU is excellent, Mimi faces a few barriers. Mimi’s mother, who suffers from an inoperable brain stem malformation, requires countless visits to the hospital. Because Mimi’s biological father passed away from diabetes when she was young, she finds her mother frequently under her care. In addition to this difficulty at home, Mimi also began to struggle with interpersonal issues with her roommates. As a result, Mimi has decided to find other ways to spend her time outside of class.

Fortunately she found the Cook Library Center, where her opportunity to volunteer with the children provides a healthy escape. ”The Library Center has reminded me how much I love going out and spending time with people,” she explained, smiling. "It's nice to stop hurting for a moment and enjoy life with the kids. It helps me let everything go for a while … knowing that I’m making life better for them.” She said, “Coming from an all-white neighborhood with all-white kids, there was no program like this where I could be with other people like me.” Excluded from social life in most of the places where she lived, Mimi says that she believes that the Cook Library Center gives the kids an opportunity to make friends with one other. “They are not alone here,” she said. “If I had something like this, I think about how much further I could have gone."