Constance's Story | Park District of Highland Park

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847.433.6901 | 2821 Ridge Rd

Read & Walk Along the Trails

Constance’s Story Trail is made possible through a generous grant to the Parks Foundation by former Highland Park resident Marc Mar-Yohana in collaboration with Heller Nature Center and our extraordinary volunteers. This was Mar-Yohana’s touching tribute to his late daughter and to celebrate her love of nature and reading. Constance and her father had shared many joyous hours reading the books posted along Heller Nature Center’s story trail.

Featured books along the trail change seasonally and include some of Constance’s favorites books. Organizers also hope to offer a chance for local youth to display their writing.

Constance’s Story Trail is based on the StoryWalk® Project. The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StoryWalk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson.

About Constance

“It was something we always loved to do together,” said Mar-Yohana, explaining that Constance was on the autism spectrum and had difficulty with physical coordination and speaking. “The Nature Center really gave her a chance to exercise. She liked seeing the trees and shuffling her feet through the leaves in the fall and got excited watching squirrels running, birds flying by, and frogs jumping in the pond.”

The posted stories made their visits to Heller Nature Center even more rewarding since Constance’s ability to speak was at its best when reading aloud. “The books gave her an extra incentive to walk the full trail,” Mar-Yohana said. “Our goal in bringing it back is to make it last with the best available equipment. I really want other families to be able to enjoy it.”

The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes

Featured Book

The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes by Brenda Li

Want to teach children how to turn mistakes into resilience, then watch them shine bright?

From tangled hair to missing teeth, Millie’s track and field race turns into a disaster when she makes mistakes after mistakes. This young girl dreams of being a top athlete. But whatever she does, she always messes up. Millie squeezes too much toothpaste, uses too much glue, spills milk all over and spells ‘banana’ wrong. When she repeatedly makes errors in the race, she feels frustrated and discouraged. She even ends up in a tree

Will she quit? Will she ever become an amazing athlete she aspires to be?

The exciting ups and downs will leave young readers rooting for this highly relatable girl.

See how Millie finally succeeds through learning, creative problem solving, mental toughness and determination

This story teaches children:

That it’s okay to make mistakes
To learn from mistakes and bounce back
To develop mental toughness
To practice mindful affirmations
To never give up your goals

The Girl Who Makes a Million Mistakes is featured from November-December 2025.

Questions?

Contact Us

Meghan

Meredith

Program Manager

847.579.4183 [email protected]

Mark

Bryant

Naturalist Teacher

847.579.4184 [email protected]

Phelicia

Jozwiak

Nature Program Coordinator-Teacher

847.579.4182 [email protected]