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2008 Event - February 7th, 8th and 9th!
This year NYSS had a record number of states participating. The NYSS State Reps did an excellent job at soliciting entries, mentoring, coaching, and facilitating the submission of all entries. This is not a small feat and their efforts are very much appreciated.
The following finalists have been invited to showcase their stories at the NYSS event February 7th, 8th, 9th in Pigeon Forge, TN. They will participate in various workshops and one-on-one interaction with seasoned tellers who will be featured at the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival that same weekend.
If you aren't among the finalists then please don't fret, this weekend is also for you. Everyone is invited to participate in the workshops and attend the concerts that will be held each day. If you haven't been to the NYSS event please consider joining us this year. Come make new friends and learn more about the art of storytelling by participating in the workshops, they are open to everyone! The NYSS event, as well as the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival, is FREE (for those 17 yrs old and under) and only $25 for adults for the entire weekend.
http://www.mypigeonforge.com/accommodations.asp
Featured Tellers
Chloe Clunis, Willy Claflin, Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Carmen Agra Deedy, Kim Weitkamp, Waddie Mitchell, Bill Harley, and Bil Lepp
2008 NYSS Finalists
TANDEM
Sarah Bird and Sarah Filippone - TN
Catherine Annis and Tyler Smith - FL
Claire Schenken and Brenna Juhnke - TX
Brackon Curtis and Jordan Sallee - KY
ELEMENTARY
Hannah Smyth - TN
Ruthanna Rubin - TX
Ke'Ara Clayton-Reese - FL
Chris Faverino - NM
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Aubrey Taylor - UT
Will Sox - SC
Keith Kibby - TX
Maya Norton - WA
HIGH SCHOOL
Joanna Guy - MD
Emilee Seaman - KY
Rixon Lane - SC
Todd Elliot - NC
With Stories to tell,
Elizabeth Rose
http://elizabethrose.biz
2008 Schedule of Events
Itenerary for NYSS participants, NYSS guest/family
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
7:00 – 8:00 pm
Meet in the lobby of the National Park Resort, (host hotel for NYSS) to meet and greet and go over the itinerary and answer questions. You can stick around in the lobby to play storytelling games and get to know each other. This is a tradition.
Thursday, February 7th
7:30 am NYSS finalists, eat a good breakfast because it will be a quick lunch.
8:30 am NYSS finalist meet in the lobby of the National Park Resort
9:00 – 10:15 Introduction of NYSS Finalists – National Park Resort
This is an opportunity for those attending the festival to get to meet the NYSS Finalists. The finalists will be introduced and tell a short 2 minute story or vignette. This is always entertaining and a great way to meet the NYSS finalist before you see and hear them on stage.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Bill Harley “Storytelling Games”
Improvisation and group exercises to get you on your feet and blabbing!
11:45 – 12:30 Grab Lunch and get on a bus to go to the area schools.
1:00 – 4:00 NYSS Finalists Telling in Local Schools
(4 groups of 5 – 6 tellers, 1 elem., 1 middle, 1 high school, and 2 tandems. We will tell in 4 area PF schools. An adult teller will emcee and chaperone these groups.
4:00 – 5:00 Afternoon Concerts at the American Jukebox Theater featuring:
* Waddie Mitchell
* Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Beauty and the Beast Storytellers
5:00 – 6:15 Swapping Grounds – American Jukebox Theater
6:00 – 7:00 Dinner Break
7:00 – 9:00 Evening Concert – American Jukebox Theater
* Chloe Clunis
* Bill Harley
Intermission
* Kim Weitkamp
* Bil Lepp
9:30 – 10:30 Up Close and Personal with the Featured Tellers
NYSS finalists and other youth tellers attending the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival are welcome to sit in the theater and listen to this amazing session. Youth tellers will have the opportunity to ask questions to the featured tellers. You can find out how they started in storytelling, most embarrassing moments, their favorite foods, etc… Have some good questions ready to ask the tellers. This is always an amazing experience!
Itinerary for General Public Youth attending workshops
Thursday, February 7th
9:00 – 10:15 Introduction of NYSS Finalists – National Park Resort
This is an opportunity for those other youth attending the festival to get to meet the NYSS Finalists. The finalists will be introduced and tell a short 2 minute story or vignette. This is always entertaining and a great way to meet the NYSS finalist before you see and hear them on stage.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Youth Workshop with Bill Harley - “Storytelling Games”
Improves and group exercises to get you on your feet and blabbing!
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 – 2:00 Youth Workshop with Waddie Mitchell – “The Life of a Cowboy Poet”
Have you ever wondered what life is like for a cowboy out on the lonesome prairie? Let Waddie take you with him, as you not only explore the prairie, but the fodder for the poetry that he creates from the life that he lives.
2:00 – 2:15 Break
2:15 – 3:30 Youth Workshop with Chloe Clunis – “Storytelling: Opening Doors for Youth Tellers”
Chloe will take you on her own personal journey with storytelling, from how she began as a youth teller, to all of the places she has traveled as a teller. She is an inspiration for all youth who enjoy listening to and telling stories!
3:30 – 4:00 Break
4:00 – 5:00 Afternoon Concerts at the American Jukebox Theater featuring:
* Waddie Mitchell
* Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Beauty and the Beast Storytellers
5:00 – 6:15 Swapping Grounds – American Jukebox Theater
6:00 – 7:00 Dinner Break
7:00 – 9:00 Evening Concert – American Jukebox Theater
* Chloe Clunis
* Bill Harley
Intermission
* Kim Weitkamp
* Bil Lepp
9:30 – 10:30 Up Close and Personal with the Featured Tellers
NYSS finalists and other youth tellers attending the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival are welcome to sit in the theater and listen to this amazing session. Youth tellers will have the opportunity to ask questions to the featured tellers. You can find out how they started in storytelling, most embarrassing moments, their favorite foods, etc… Have some good questions ready to ask the tellers. This is always an amazing experience!
General Public Adult Itinerary – American Jukebox Theater
Thursday, February 7th
9:00 – 10:15 Workshop with Waddie Mitchell – “The Life of a Cowboy Poet”
Have you ever wondered what life is like for a cowboy out on the lonesome prairie? Let Waddie take you with him, as you not only explore the prairie, but the fodder for the poetry that he creates from the life that he lives.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Willy Claflin - “Out of Thin Air”
In this entertaining workshop, the participant will learn a foolproof method for making up your own original stories to tell. This workshop will involve a quick demonstration, a group activity, active participation, and a closing question and answer session. The workshop will also be co-taught by Maynard Moose.
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 – 2:00 Workshop-Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Beauty and the Beast Storytellers – “Yes! You Can Tell Stories Too!
This retelling workshop is for beginning adult tellers, anyone who wants to learn some new stories, or those who want to teach storytelling.
2:15 – 3:30 Workshop with Carmen Agra Deedy – “Children’s Picture Book Writing”
This workshop will focus on children's picture book writing, from initial concept to submission. We will read and discuss children's picture books, learn the basic criteria (page length, word count, vocabulary), and discuss the submission process. Included will be a handout with a list of U.S. publishing houses and their submission info.
3:30 – 4:00 Break
4:00 – 5:00 Afternoon Concert featuring:
* Waddie Mitchell
* Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Beauty and the Beast Storytellers
5:00 – 6:15 Swapping Grounds – American Jukebox Theater
6:00 – 7:00 Dinner Break
7:00 – 9:00 Evening Concert – American Jukebox Theater
* Chloe Clunis
* Bill Harley
Intermission
* Kim Weitkamp
* Bil Lepp
9:30 – 10:30 Up Close and Personal with the Featured Tellers
NYSS finalists and other youth tellers attending the Smoky Mountain Storytelling Festival are welcome to sit in the theater and listen to this amazing session. Youth tellers will have the opportunity to ask questions to the featured tellers. You can find out how they started in storytelling, most embarrassing moments, their favorite foods, etc… Have some good questions ready to ask the tellers. This is always an amazing experience!
Friday, February 8th
Youth Workshops
9:00 – 10:15 Workshop with Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss, Beauty and the Beast Storytellers – “Yes! You Can Tell Stories Too!”
This retelling workshop is for beginning youth tellers, or anyone who wants to learn some new stories. Participants will have fun with story and storytelling games.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Carmen Agra Deedy – “Proud to Be Me!”
In this workshop, Carmen will help youth tellers learn to tell their own stories and the importance of the cultural richness in their stories.
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 – 2:00 Workshop with Bil Lepp – “Getting Kids to Lie Well”
This is exactly what your parents don’t want you to be able to do, but don’t let the title scare you away. In this workshop, participants will learn techniques for writing and telling tall-tales. You too, can become a liar like Bil!
Adult Itinerary – American Jukebox Theater
9:00 – 10:15 Workshop with Bill Harley – “Telling Personal Stories”
We all have interesting things happen to us – experiences that would make good stories. But, telling a personal story in performance requires more work than just telling what happened. Some thought about theme, plot, setting and character are important to make a personal story mean something to others. In this workshop, Bill will offer some prompts to help you find material for your own stories, and give some insights about how to structure them so they work as performance pieces.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Kim Weitkamp – “Wrinkles: A Project”
The Wrinkles Project is a cause near to Kim’s heart. In this workshop she will teach you how to go into retirement communities and turn the folks there into storytellers. You will learn the art of memory mapping, how to teach them telling skill, how to outline a Wrinkles weekend, how to deal with the activities director, and what to do with the end results. For more information on The Wrinkles Project, go to http://www.justkissthefrog.com/ and click on The Wrinkled Project. This workshop is 70% teaching and 30% interactive.
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch Break
12:45 – 2:00 Workshop with Bil Lepp – “Getting Adults to Lie Well”
This is one of Bil’s most requested workshops. It takes a great liar to teach others the art of lying. In this workshop, participants will learn techniques for writing and telling tall-tales. You too, can become a liar like Bil!
Adults and Youth Afternoon Concerts - American Jukebox Theater
2:15 – 4:30 p.m. Afternoon Concerts featuring:
* Bill Harley
* Carmen Agra-Deedy
* Willy Claflin
* Bil Lepp
4:30 – 6:00 Swapping Grounds - American Jukebox Theater
6:00 – 7:00 Dinner
Evening Concert
7:00 – 9:00 Evening Concert featuring:
* Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton
* Willy Claflin
Intermission
* Waddie Mitchell
* Carmen Agra-Deede
9:30 – 11:00 Haunts ‘N Haints at the Old Mill featuring:
Bill Harley, Kim Weitkamp, Mitch Weiss & Martha Hamilton, and Bil Lepp
Saturday, February 9th
Youth Workshops
9:00 – 10:15 Workshop with Willy Claflin – “The Professor and the Rhinoceros”
In this entertaining workshop presented by Willy and Maynard Moose, you will learn to liven up your tales by talking in different voices. You just might discover a voice inside you that you did not know existed!
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Kim Weitkamp - “The Mind is a Muscle”
Exercises to strengthen your imagination muscle, the brain! In this workshop you will do creative exercises using the whole body to express yourselves. Using the full body, along with theatrical exercises, will help you learn to be free and move away from inhibitions that sometimes squelch the imaginative flow of ideas. This workshop is 100% interactive.
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch
Adult Workshops – American Jukebox Theater
9:00 – 10:15 Workshop with Carmen Agra Deedy – “Librarian as Storyteller, the Natural Transition”
This workshop will include: dusting off the 398.2’s, telling the story vs. reading the story, basic skills, preparing the students and the space for storytelling, and teaching the students how to be a good audience.
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:45 Workshop with Mitch Weiss & Martha Hamilton – Words Take Wing: Teaching Children To Tell Stories”
If you work with youth tellers in schools, churches, or at home, this is a must workshop for you. Mitch and Martha are internationally known for the work they do with teaching children to tell stories. Learn first hand some of the methods they use to get children up and telling in no time.
11:45 – 12:45 Lunch
Adult and Youth Itinerary - American Jukebox Theater
12:45 – 2:00 Afternoon Concert – American Jukebox Theater
* Chloe Clunis
* Kim Weitkamp
* Bil Lepp
2:15 – 5:15 National Youth Storytelling Showcase – American Jukebox Theater
2:15 - 5:15 Swapping Ground - National Park Resort
5:15 – 6:30 Dinner
6:30 – 7:00 NYSS Awards – American Jukebox Theater
7:00 – 9:00 Evening Concert featuring:
* NYSS Grand Torchbearer
* Willy Claflin
* Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss
* Carmen Agra Deedy
Intermission
* Kim Weitkamp
* Waddie Mitchell
* Bill Harley
* Bil Lepp
9:30 – 11:00 Enchanted Tales in the Enchanted Ballroom at The Inn at Christmas Place, featuring:
Chloe Clunis, Waddie Mitchell, Willy Claflin, and Carmen Agra Deedy
 
“Tomorrow’s storytelling” lies in the talents, interests, and motivations of today’s YOUTH. Skills learned during the early years are often more polished than those learned later in life. This event is designed to promote and encourage both the art and science of storytelling among pre-adult communicators. Although this endeavor does involve competition, its underlying intent is to provide students across the nation with a reason to practice numerous non-competitive communication skills.
Each state has one representative who is in charge of handling the experiences at the state level. Each state rep organizes the experiences for his/her state, then nominates up to five young tellers from that state to be considered as a candidate for the NYSS. These videotapes are mailed to the City of Pigeon Forge, TN before a pre-determined time in November of each year. A national committee spends considerable time with these videotapes, and then narrows the NYSS finalists to 18 - 20. Those finalists are invited to the upcoming NYSS, which is a 3-day affair held in conjunction with the Smoky Mountains Storytelling Festival, held in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, the first weekend in February.
All of this leads to an evening NYSS storytelling concert, where each of the young finalists tells one story. Then one “Special Youth Storytelling Torchbearer” will be declared in each of three age groups and one tandem groups. Individuals in these age divisions will be selected not just for their storytelling talents but also for their ambassadorship abilities in the world of storytelling. One “GRAND Storytelling Torchbearer” is declared from ALL of the young finalists.
The goal of the NYSS is to encourage every classroom in America to discover (or rediscover) the beauty and value of storytelling and story performance. All who work with young tellers should keep this goal in mind during all of the training and telling procedures.
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