StoryStream Cambridge

Celebrating Area IV- the Port’s Life

2012-02-22T08:19:00.002-05:00

Celebrate Area IV on Wednesday, February 29, 2012 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Please note the

EVENT VENUE CHANGE: The Cambridge Citywide Senior Center
806 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139

Master of Ceremonies Pastor Lorraine A. Thornhill will preside and Stories from the Neighbors will be facilitated by Norah Dooley. This event will highlight The Port’s diversity and cultural vibrancy. Featuring the talented Fletcher-Maynard Academy Choir and a dance performance by the L.I.G.H.T. Steppers of First Holiness Church. Stories about experiences of life in the Port will be shared through the perspectives and voices of neighborhood residents facilitated by Norah Dooley, a regional storyteller, children’s author and spoken word performer.

First Washington Street block party - July, 1989

Norah became a storyteller, educator, critically acclaimed children’ s author while living in Area 4. She and her family of 4 daughters and husband Robert were in on the first Washington Street block parties which inspired her series of picture books about her neighbors " Everybody Cooks Rice, Everybody Bakes Bread et.als" Norah is co-founder of massmouth.com and the Greater Boston Story Slam series, project director of the StoriesLive® curriculum, teaching high school students to tell their stories, Norah has been connecting people to their stories to help connect people to each other, for over 20 years. She began telling stories at Lesley University an first performed in the Fletcher After School program thanks to the support and mentoring of Roz Shoy. Her first public gig as a storyteller was at the Cambridge River Festival in 1991. She also credits her daughters with the impetus to tell stories by never "going easy into that goodnight".

The National Storytelling Network (NSN) and StoryStream Cambridge's innovative StoryTrades project co-sponsors the storytelling segment of the evening. StoryTrades ("an exchange of stories by real people") is a series of informal but focused events, designed to bring together residents, people who work in Cambridge, and business owners to share personal stories on a variety of announced themes.

City of Cambridge Employees’ Committee on Diversity

StoryStream at Fresh Pond Day

2011-05-10T22:56:00.000-04:00

Storyteller Doria Hughes, one of the co-founders of massmouth, told stories of butterflies, mice and Finn McCool in the StoryStream tent at Fresh Pond Day on Saturday, May 7. As children and adults came to explore the information tables and craft activities, we invited them to hear stories (and also to enjoy nature-oriented books from the library). Children sat on a blanket and told Doria about birds and other animals and she filled their imaginations with good stories. There was one young child who just decided to wander…but kept coming back with dandelion bouquets for Doria.

Jason Weeks, Executive Director of the Cambridge Arts Council, connected StoryStream to the celebration held by the Water Treatment Facility along the shores of Fresh Pond. Thanks to Jason, Deb Albenberg of the Water Department, Doria and Massmouth!

High School Scholarship Story Slam April 30th, 2011

2011-04-24T09:53:00.010-04:00

FROM WITNESSING DEATH TO LIVING WITH A FAT HEAD: TEENS TELL THEIR STORIES AT THE CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC LIBRARY

When high school students Maho (Lynn Classical High School), who is orginally from Bosnia, or Sandy (Boston Latin Academy), from Mattapan, told their stories, the air was taut with the energy and attention their peers were sending them.

The two students are as different as can be. Teachers said they were surprised to see Maho step up to the mic -- he has a stutter, they said, but it was not at all evident in his performance. Sandy is an award-winning slam poet and practiced performer, but the raw memory of her story caused her to pause for composure.

Theirs are just two of the stories we will hear in the StoriesLive® Scholarship High School Slam on April 30th, starting at 2:30 PM in the auditorium of Cambridge's Main Library, 449 Broadway. This event is free and open to the public, thanks to support from StoryStream. In this final competition, more than a dozen teens will be telling stories based on their real life adventures. The stories are poignant, funny, sad and silly. In one the echo of a younger brother's voice pulls the speaker from the brink of suicide. In another, the teller attributes his big head to getting in trouble with a nun.

These stories have been brought forth by StoriesLive®, a curriculum-based program designed by the non-profit organization massmouth, inc. to teach vital oral presentation skills and empower teens to tell their stories. MassHumanities partially funded the program this year based on its innovative approach. Teachers and administrators value this program for developing skills needed for the college and job application process. Norah Dooley, project director and curriculum developer of the lesson plans says, "Students need to know and tell their own stories." And massmouth cofounder Andrea Lovett agrees, adding, “Telling and listening to stories helps to build a culture of respect and compassion.”

Nicolette Heavey, project co-director, noted that student feedback has consistently proven that the program builds common bonds and a greater sense of community within the classroom. Typical student comments sounded like this: “I really liked hearing other people’s stories and getting to know their feelings.” The massmouth storyteller-educators have heard over 1200 personal stories from high school juniors and seniors in Abington, Andover, Boston Latin Academy, Everett, Lynn Classical, and Newburyport high schools. The best of the stories heard in the classroom moved on to performance in front of their high school audience. The best of each high school will compete at the Cambridge Public Library for their share of $5000 in scholarship cash.

massmouth, inc is a 501c3 with a mission to promote the timeless art of storytelling in the 21^st century via social media, education and performance. Videos of the assemblies, in-class lessons and final performances can be viewed at http://massmouth.org/storieslive/.

2011-02-24T23:10:00.000-05:00

1st Story Trade at Cambridge Historical Society

by Norah Dooley of massmouth

(left) In the 70s and 80s this participant was a bartender at Ryles. She had great stories

Last night Andrea Lovett and I facilitated our first StoryTrade. FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A STORIED WALK DOWN CAMBRIDGE'S CULINARY LANES PAST AND PRESENT.

We met at the The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House 159 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA but we traveled in story time and moved from Zum-Zums to Grendls, to the WurstHaus, to the Spaghetti Factory, to Chez Jean's and the Tavern on the Square. We heard stories that ranged from poignantly personal to luscious reminiscences of food found, bought, prepared, shared, served and savored in Cambridge. We spoke of food foraged and who cooked and ate what during the Blizzard of 1978. We heard about neighbors' recipes and neighborhood traditions.

Thanks to Gavin Kleespies and the Cambridge Historical Society for gracious hosting and the National Storytelling Network (NSN) for their funding of this exciting initiative. Daryl Mark said, "It was a thoroughly enjoyable time and I think that everyone left full of memories and stories to share."

StoryTrades are small gatherings, facilitated by a professional storyteller, in which participants share memories focused on a theme that is important to them and the host group. By coming together and sharing stories in a group, we hope to improve our own stories and learn more about the process of telling stories and share some of Cambridge’s culture.

CHS director, Gavin Kleespies listens as a participant shares her story

Andrea Lovett( right) and Norah Dooley (4th from right) from masssmouth

One participant ( below) told about serving potato leek soup to Julia Child and she brought a photo of that exact moment in time. She was a volunteer at WGBH at the time and had enjoyed cooking potato leek soup from Julia Child's cookbook for her family for years so it was a moment of genuine connection for her.

Regina shared her great story about cooking for Julia Child.

FINDING OUR VOICES: NEIGHBORHOOD STORYTELLING CIRCLES

2011-02-09T16:07:00.001-05:00

Thanks to a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, StoryStream will present a new spring program, FINDING OUR VOICES, a pilot project to create monthly neighborhood storytelling gatherings for immigrant residents of Cambridge. Participants will share folktales from their cultures as well as their personal stories.

The storytelling circles will be coordinated by Community Engagement Team workers who represent various ethnic and language groups and work with families of similar countries of origin. Professional storyteller Jo Radner will train the CET workers and they will recruit project participants. Stories will be recorded (with permission) and participants will be invited to present stories at the StoryStream Storytelling Tent at the Cambridge River Festival, June 4, 2011.

For more information, contact Daryl Mark, dmark@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4409.

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT" at Cambridge Historical Society

2011-02-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

StoryStream and the Cambridge Historical Society will offer the first program in the new StoryTrades series: FOOD FOR THOUGHT: A STORIED WALK DOWN CAMBRIDGE'S CULINARY LANES PAST AND PRESENT.

When: Wednesday, February 23, 6:00-8:00 pm

Did you know Julia Child? Maybe you met a neighbor of hers? Do you remember the Hungry Mama Restaurant? One Potato, Two Potato? Come share those stories and other memories of Cambridge's edible past at a "storytrade." StoryTrades are small gatherings, facilitated by a professional storyteller, in which participants share memories focused on a theme that is important to them and the host group. By coming together and sharing stories in a group, we hope to improve our own stories and learn more about the process of telling stories and share some of Cambridge’s culinary culture.

This is a free program, although space is limited and registration is required. To sign up, please send your name and contact info to rsvp@cambridgehistory.org or call 617-547-4252.

StoryTrades are funded in part by a Year of the Regions Grant from the National Storytelling Network.

"Storytelling 101"

2011-01-17T07:14:00.001-05:00

Our Advisory Board colleague from massmouth, Norah Dooley, will be offering a storytelling class at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education for four Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, beginning on February 24:

We all have a story to tell. And from NPR programs like "Story Corps" to live stories at massmouth story slams in Boston, personal stories are filling venues and imaginations everywhere. Do you wish you could tell your story? Storyteller Norah Dooley's workshop will focus on story games and oral exercises to find your stories and help you craft a compelling oral, personal narrative and perform it. Handouts, resources, and worksheets will be provided. Class members are invited to tell at monthly massmouth open mics or story slams in the fall/winter. Limited to 12.

Norah's widely acclaimed picture books, Everybody Cooks Rice, Everybody Bakes Bread, Everybody Serves Soup and Everybody Brings Noodles, (Carolrhoda Books @ lernerbooks.com) are four titles in a series about her former neighborhood in Cambridge, MA. She has published six storytelling CDs, and presents in schools, libraries, and teacher's conferences. Norah has performed as a featured storyteller in the Christmas and Spring Revels in Cambridge and Boston MA, the Cambridge River Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Albany NY River Festival, 3 Apples Storytelling Festival, MA, and at the Clearwater Festival.
Web Site: www.norahdooley.com

YouthStream Posts Videos

2011-01-16T21:01:00.000-05:00

YouthStream has posted the first digital stories produced at the Media Arts Studio with the help of Louisa Ehrich.

Bike Accident

Corner Story

YOUTHSTREAM PROJECT IS UNDER WAY

2010-12-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

YouthStream, a program of StoryStream Cambridge funded by a grant from Target, has begun with a bang at the Media Arts Studio at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Here is the latest report from Ginny Berkowitz, Program Manager of Cambridge Educational Access TV:

The fall was very active at CEATV. Starting in October 2010 a select group of veteran producers from Youth View Cambridge began the pilot project for CEATV’s YouthStream Project. Working with Media Instructor Louisa Ehrich, they created three distinct digital stories centering on the theme of “Corners.” Meanwhile CEATV met Matthew Swaiden, a graduate student at the Harvard Design School, who is experimenting with a people’s history video installation project in Cambridge. Compelled by the student work created in our pilot workshop, he will be including some of their digital stories in his building community history project with interactive viewer stations across the city of Cambridge. Swaiden will start with CRLS student Alexandros Zervos’ piece set in East Cambridge. Alex’s story takes place at a bus stop and the story will be posted there with a monitor and audio for viewing. Stay tuned for a launch date!

Our next storytelling project is set to begin on January 25th with our middle school after school production program that serves students from across the City. We will keep you posted as those stories become available.

In addition we are planning to launch a winter/spring audio storytelling project! "No Soap … Radio?" will be offered as part of YouthStream and as an offshoot of the Media Arts Studio Radio Club. Using the 'no soap radio' theme, which is a traditional punch line for a prank joke, content will examine ‘groupthink’ and the need to conform to one's peers. Student producers will learn how to create and upload stories that produce a dramatic series in the soap opera genre. Students will work with a storytelling instructor to create the series including research, story scripting, and performing. Students will also work with a media instructor to learn the technology of Internet ‘radio’. The series will be developed over the winter/spring semester and then be available on our web site for community and school listening, and included as part of our Homeroom newscasts at CRLS.

Our hope is to showcase all stories produced through our collaboration with StoryStream Cambridge for the public’s viewing and listening pleasure in May during Cambridge Open Studios, the planned StoryStream Storytelling Festival, and at the Media Arts Studio Annual Media Fair.

December is Storytelling Month at King/Amigos Library

2010-12-23T15:11:00.001-05:00

A parent at Amigos School tells a story of a Chinese princess sent to marry a Malaysian king.

At the Amigos School on Putnam Avenue, families have been invited to come share stories with their child's class during library time.

At the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School the fifth graders have each chosen a Native American story gathered by Joseph Bruchac, and have practiced telling the stories to each other before sharing them with younger students. They will also make their own story bags.

For more information about Storytelling Month, please visit the King/Amigos Library blog.

Ashley Bryan Returns to Cambridge

2010-11-24T14:15:00.001-05:00

A very special evening!

Ashley Bryan, beloved illustrator and author of over 35 books including Ashley Bryan’s Words to My Life’s Song, All Things Bright and Beautiful, and Beautiful Blackbird is coming back to Cambridge.

Come and join his joyful presentation of poetry and stories.

Thursday, December 16th at 6:00pm

Fletcher-Maynard Academy, 225 Windsor Street, Cambridge, MA

For ages 6 and up Pizza will be served. Registration required.

This program is free and open to all.

Please call 617-349-4409 or 617-349-4102 for more information or to register.

STORYTELLING RESOURCES FROM CAMBRIDGE FORUM

2010-11-24T11:34:00.003-05:00

StoryStream partner Cambridge Forum shares with us several on-line programs featuring storytellers that have been webcast on the WGBH Forum Network.

Storytelling in the Electronic Era

Storyteller Odds Bodkin and Harvard folklorist Maria Tatar explore the art of the story in the 21st century.

Telling stories is an ancient art, a holdover from the pre-literate human past. How did the advent of the written word affect the art of storytelling and the stories themselves? Why does oral storytelling persist? What impact will the digital culture of wikis and filesharing have on the future of storytelling?

Program Part 1 Program Part 2

The Role of Fantasy in Children's Lives

Award-winning children's author Susan Cooper explores the ways that literary fantasy helps children understand the world of adulthood. How do children understand fantasy? What does it add to their lives? Why do adults find fantasy in children's literature objectionable, even threatening?

Cosponsored by the Cambridge Public Library and The Horn Book magazine with support from the Cambridge Community Foundation.
Program

CAMBRIDGE STORIES AT GRAHAM & PARKS SCHOOL

2010-11-22T11:37:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, November 9, 7th and 8th grade Humanities students at the Graham & Parks School collected stories about our city from fellow Cantabrigians.  These stories addressed many aspects of Cambridge history and deepened students' understanding of what it means to be a part of this unique city.

Cambridge citizens who were interviewed included politicians, local business owners, homemakers, school employees, community activists, human service providers, and even a music teacher who shares his home with a (lifesize, fiberglass) cow named Darla.  Many interviewees spoke about changes they'd seen during their lifetimes, and about what they think makes Cambridge so special.

Students shared their learning with a public telling of these stories and a reception showcasing the student-created archives for an audience of teachers, parents, siblings, alumni, and community members.

TELLABRATION!™ WEEKEND IS COMING UP

2010-11-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

TELLABRATION!™ is a night of storytelling, celebrated world-wide on or about the Saturday before Thanksgiving, sponsored by the National Storytelling Network. This Thanksgiving join the celebration by sharing some stories with your friends and family. Donald Davis (author of Telling Your Own Stories) has some great ideas for getting the ball rolling:

“Can you remember a time when you tried to cook something and it didn’t turn out?”

“Can you remember a holiday that you would like (or NOT like) to live over again?”

“Can you remember the funniest thing that ever happened at a holiday dinner?”

“Do you remember a favorite guest…or relative…who usually joined your holiday celebrations?”

StoryStream wishes all a happy Thanksgiving and good stories.

Norah Dooley performs EVERYBODY HAS A STORY on Nov. 20

2010-11-16T14:07:00.001-05:00

Saturday, November 20 -- Join storyteller and author Norah Dooley at 56 Brattle Street, Cambridge, for an exciting morning of stories from far and near, appropriate for both kids and adults. Norah will begin with world folk tales, and then share life stories from her neighbors in Central Square, Cambridge -- and maybe even from members of the audience! Don't miss this enchanting and inspiring performance at the historic Brattle Theater in Harvard Square.
Norah Dooley is a storyteller, critically acclaimed children's author, and educator, who, as co-founder of massmouth.com, started a story slam series in Greater Boston. Norah's widely acclaimed picture book Everybody Cooks Rice is one of four titles in a series about her former neighborhood in Cambridge, MA. She has published six storytelling CDs.

Nov. 20 -- Saturday, 10:30-11:30 am. More information
56 Brattle St.

NSN Year of the Regions Grant Awarded to StoryStream!

2010-11-03T01:55:00.000-04:00

The National Storytelling Network (NSN) has just announced its regional awards for 2011 -- and StoryStream Cambridge's innovative StoryTrades project has been selected.

StoryTrades ("an exchange of stories by real people") is a series of informal but focused events, designed to bring together residents, people who work in Cambridge, and business owners to share personal stories on a variety of announced themes. These 1½-hour gatherings will have a twist -- they will open with a mini-workshop by a professional storyteller who will offer participants ways to find and tell their stories. After the training, the participants will trade their own stories on the theme of the month. Some sample themes: “Jobs Lost and Found”; “Finding Our Way to Cambridge”; “Not MY Child…Parents and Children”; “Start-Ups and New Beginnings”; “Here’s to Your Health.”

StoryStream Cambridge, massmouth, and our city partners will work together to offer StoryTrades gatherings, hosted by various city agencies that are collaborating in this storytelling initiative. The StoryTrades events will take place in Spring 2011 -- watch for announcements!

Year of the Regions grants are made every other year by the National Storytelling Network (NSN), the national professional association that brings together and supports individuals and organizations that use the power of story in all its forms. StoryStream received the 2011 grant for the Northeast Region, joining these groups and projects in other parts of the country:

Western Region: January 15, Farmington City, UT – Farmington City Storytelling Festival, produced by the Farmington City Parks and Recreation Dept. and members of the Utah Storytelling Guild, www.farmington.utah.gov, www.utstoryguild.org

Mid-Atlantic Region: March 25-26, Bethlehem, PA – Story Fusion 2011, produced by Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild with Northampton Community College, www.lvstorytellers.org

Southeast Region: April 1-3, Laurinburg, NC – Storytelling Festival of Carolina, produced by Storytelling Arts Center of the Southeast, www.storyartscenter.org

Pacific Region: April 2011 (exact date TBD, near Earth Day), Seattle, WA – Seattle Earth Day Celebration 2011, produced by Seattle Storytellers Guild, www.seattlestorytelling.org

North Central Region: April 29-May 1, Lake Geneva, WI - The Northlands Storytelling Conference, produced by Northlands Storytelling Network, www.northlands.net

South Central Region: July 8-10, San Antonio, TX – Texas Storytelling Conference: Sustaining the Flame: Stories Fuel Life and Learning, produced by Tejas Storytelling Association, www.tejasstorytelling.com

Target Grant -- Good News!

2010-08-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

Cambridge Educational Access (CEA) provides media art education, oversees programming for cable educational access channels 98 and 99 and manages the newly renovated Media Arts Studio at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.

We have good news! StoryStream Cambridge has been awarded a Target grant for digital storytelling at the Media Arts Studio. The grant is for $2,000 and will fund storytelling training for staff as they shape a curriculum. It will also fund other teaching artists to work with students as they create and share digital stories. Ginny Berkowitz is the Program Manager of Cambridge Educational Access . The project plans to involve middle school students who participate in the afterschool program and a high school class.

YouthStream is the name of this program…and is part of StoryStream’s promotion of storytelling in Cambridge

Meeting August 3 2010

2010-08-03T15:30:00.001-04:00

Great meeting at CPL with nearly twenty story enthusiasts brainstorming ideas.

StoryStream at the River Festival June 2010

2010-08-03T15:26:00.000-04:00

The Storystream Cambridge storytelling tent at Cambridge River Festival was a place of excitement and great stories! It was a wonderful day! From Laura Packer’s interview with Ruth Edmonds Hill to the Sunrise Club..to Tony Toledo and KR, to storytelling games, to memory stories with the Literacy Ambassadors (and members of the audience) and then to teens presenting poetry and improv stories…and finishing with residents of Cambridge from the Longfellow neighborhood telling stories of their lives followed by stories told by retired Superintendent of Police David Degou! Sarah Boyer interviewed the Sunrise Club of East Cambridge and David Degou. Penelope Kleespies facilitated the storytelling of the mid-Cambridge residents. Jo Radner welcomed everyone with enthusiasm and highlighted StoryStream Cambridge. Jo also led the Memory Stories. And, of course, a huge thank you to Julie Madden and Jason Weeks and the Cambridge Arts Council.

So many wonderful stories! Many people stopped by and stayed to enjoy listening and participating! And, there were a number of questions about StoryStream…with lots of interest expressed. We had a number of people sign up to receive information about StoryStream. Member agencies and organizations were all listed on our sign of “Partners.”

CCTV filmed the stories and will be airing them at some point. Our workers, Amy Newmark, Carole Withrow, Joan Stern and Maya Escobar were really good!

A wonderful start! More reports to follow. Now we will continue to think and plan.
from Daryl Mark