09/10/2026
So exciting!!💙🎉📚
📚💙 Some really fun news from Austin’s Army!
A few weeks ago, we learned that one of our friends who is a Potter alumni, Dr. Lisa Zimmerman, ELHS Class of 2009, had written a children’s book called Milo Mug and the Midnight Pottery. The more we learned about it, the more we knew this was something we wanted to be part of.
Milo Mug is a story about friendship, feeling left out, finding where you belong, and learning that the things that make us different might just be the things that make us special. Sound like something Austin’s Army could get behind? We thought so too.
Add in a Potter alum writing a book centered around pottery, and it felt like the perfect full-circle opportunity. We reached out to our friends at LaCroft Elementary with the idea of Austin’s Army gifting a copy to each 2nd and 3rd grade classroom and they were SO on board!
✨ The books are officially ordered! ✨
Lisa has even taken Milo Mug beyond the pages of the book by developing social-emotional learning activities centered around self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and decision-making that can soon be offered to the teachers as an additional resource.
Lisa’s own work makes this connection even more meaningful. She works in Translational Neuroscience at UPMC, where her work contributes to research aimed at better understanding mental illness and improving treatment and outcomes. She is also an Adjunct Professor of Counseling and Human Development at Antioch University.
Mental health. Kindness. Belonging. Friendship. Celebrating what makes each of us different. This is exactly the kind of message we want our kids growing up hearing.
The books should arrive in the next few weeks, and we cannot wait to deliver them to LaCroft and make this awesome community connection complete. 💙📚
A local author. A Potter alum. Our local young Potters. And a message that fits the heart of Austin’s Army so incredibly well. We’re pretty excited about this one. 🫶
Be kind. Include others. Celebrate what makes you different. And always make room at the table, or maybe the pottery wheel, for someone who needs a place to belong. 💙
