Student helps unveil brand new float for America’s Thanksgiving Parade

DETROIT – There are less than two weeks from one of Detroit’s best family traditions, America’s Thanksgiving Parade presented by Gardner White.

One of the best parts of the parade was revealed Monday, Nov. 13 -- the student-designed Skillman Float.

Imagine being a fourth-grade student, just 9 years old, having an idea and then watching that idea come to life. That’s what happened to Aaliyah Crowder, a student at University Prep Art & Design.

Crowder’s float, “Together We Shine” features a 10-foot globe, colorful rainbow and a nearly 10-foot representation of the artist herself.

Every year, hundreds of Detroit student artists submit their drawings to the Skillman Foundation Float Design Contest. The winning entry gets turned into a real-life parade float and the winner rides down Woodward Avenue on Thanksgiving morning.