Do not let the name fool you; Jenny and Riley Justice, along with their two kids, Sophie, and Mason, are working hard around the clock to open their family bookstore, Sleepy Dog Books. While the store will not officially open until early May of 2022, the community and family are counting down the days until they can open the doors. For Riley, a Petoskey native, opening a bookstore in his home state is a dream come true. Being former teachers, Jenny and Riley not only love books but also understand the importance of reading and instilling a love for reading within children. Their children were raised with this same love of books and now are avid readers. The family hopes to bring a sense of community through their bookstore by supporting small Michigan-based businesses. Located in Downtown Mount Pleasant, Sleepy Dog Books offers a good book and something special to all age groups by offering a wide selection of genres, fun knick-knacks, and other novelty items. The two kids have assured even young readers will find a good book they can lose themselves in. In fact, they would love to help anyone who walks through the door. 

Jeniya Dabish is a junior at Central Michigan University majoring early childhood development and learning and minoring in English. For the Spring semester of 2022, she took 12 credit hours. Her courses included classes about folklore, infant and toddler development, poetry forms, and geography. The folklore and poetry class credits went towards her English minor. The infant and toddler development class was for her major and the geography class was for general science credit. Her geography course was the only one with a traditional final exam consisting of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and labeling specific diagrams. The poetic forms course required a final portfolio of 10 poems, each one written in a form introduced in class. Jeniya’s last two finals consisted of designing a toddler’s toy for a project and a paper that made up 80% of the grade in the folklore class. She is planning to take 9 credit hours during the summer. Two of the summer courses will contribute to her major, one focusing on early childhood program administration and the other on quantitative methods for childhood assessments. The third summer course will fulfill a general education credit and will focus on severe and unusual weather conditions. Regardless of her summer courses, Jeniya is looking forward to spending time in the sun and enjoying her summer break before returning to Central Michigan University in the fall as a graduating senior.