Students from Creekside Intermediate School in Dexter attended a signing party last week where they signed 700 copies of their recently published comic book, CPTN SRSLY and the Super Master Sentinels: The New Generation. The comic book was written by Creekside students, who joined cartoonist Jerzy Drozd, for an eight-week comic book workshop series in collaboration with SRSLY Dexter and Dexter Community Education.
“What an amazing opportunity for our students to learn about comic book writing from a cartoonist, author a published story, and have fun with their friends,” said Tammy Reich, principal of Creekside Intermediate School. “Thank you SRSLY for your commitment to our students!”
The CPTN SRSLY Comic Book Workshop was attended by 14 Creekside students. They attended 20 hours of classes over eight weeks, where they worked to write and develop their comics. Each story in the anthology was created by one student as their final workshop product. The comic book will be distributed to all the youth at Creekside, the artists families, and at the Ann Arbor Comic Book festival in June.
“As someone who went to comic stores for guidance and entertainment in his childhood, it has been a profoundly meaningful experience for me to create stories designed to help and guide the children of Dexter,” said cartoonist Jerzy Drozd. “It is all the more meaningful that SRSLY Dexter cares about its community so much so that they’ve completed the circle on the kids’ experience with the comics by providing them the opportunity to create their own comic stories.
The printed anthology is not only an artifact of their experience and learning, but an artifact that proves for kids that they have the ability to put good into the world.”
“I didn’t think I would ever be able to publish anything or put myself out there, but now I am much more confident since I participated in this workshop,” said Molly Noesen- Bosscher, a student and published comic book author.
“It was fun and I learned a lot,” said Charlotte Malo, a student and published comic book author. “Before I was not as confident in making comic books and now I really enjoy it.”
“It was a great experience,” said Alex Brassow, a student and published comic book author. “I really liked working with my friends and classmates to create this comic book.”
SRSLY Dexter is a community coalition established to prevent destructive behavior in Dexter youth, with support from St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, Dexter Wellness Coalition, and Drug Free Communities Support Program.
About SRSLY
SRSLY is a community coalition dedicated to the prevention of destructive behavior in youth. SRSLY’s mission is to empower youth to live healthy, substance-free lives, by bringing the community together. SRSLY was formed in 2008 in response to local data showing teens in Chelsea are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol than state and national averages. SRSLY promotes positive family and community involvement and school bonding, works to limit youth access to alcohol and other drugs and reduce parental approval of youth drug use. SRSLY receives support from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation and the Coghlan Family Foundation. For more information, call (734) 593-5279, or visit
The SRSLY coalition consists of representatives from across Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester and Stockbridge, including the schools, hospital, library, law enforcement, churches, businesses, parents and youth. SRSLY focuses on primary prevention among youth aged 10 to 15, but is open to anyone interested in preventing youth substance use by promoting a more positive and healthy community.
