STATE OF OPPORTUNITY. Can Kids in Michigan Get Ahead?
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This special reporting project wrapped up in May 2017. Read more.

Hear a 9-year-old's perspective on family, summer vacation and heading back to school

courtesy Melissa and Jeffrey Rice

The long, glorious summer is over for Michigan's kids. But the new school year does offer an opportunity for a fresh start

Today, we bring you a story of what that fresh start can look like from a kid's perspective. Leah Rice recently turned nine. Last year, she went through a difficult time with her family. Over the summer, we gave her an audio recorder. The story she tells on her own is different than the story you'd hear from the adults in her life. But Leah's story is a reminder of the importance of family, fun and the chance at a new beginning.  Click above to listen.  

( The Rice family was previously featured in one of the first State of Opportunity stories.)  

Dustin Dwyer is a reporter on the State of Opportunity project, based in Grand Rapids. Previously, he worked as an online journalist for Changing Gears, as a freelance reporter and as Michigan Radio's West Michigan Reporter. Before he joined Michigan Radio, Dustin interned at NPR's Talk of the Nation, wrote freelance stories for The Jackson Citizen-Patriot and completed a Reporting & Writing Fellowship at the Poynter Institute.