THE RESULTS ARE IN FROM THE 2010 EVENT!

Grand Tourchbearer
Aubrey Taylor - American Fork, UT

High School Division
Justin Lindstrum - Frisco, TX - Torchbearer
Gwendolyn Pollock - Silver Springs, FL - Finalist

Middle School Division
Kaitlin Koralewski - Gainesville, FL - Torchbearer
Aleisha Keller - Ogden, UT - Finalist
Lindsey Porter - Owingsville, KY - Finalist

Elementary School Division
Fred Hechinger, New York City, NY - Torchbearer
Claire Lemon - American Fork, UT - Finalist
Anne Price - Parkville, MO - Finalist

Tandem Division
Jacob and Sarah Filippone - Jefferson City, TN - Torchbearer
David Benning - Williamsburg, KY and Jacob Craiger - Partridge, KY - Finalist
Rebecca and Sarah Bird - Dandridge, TN - Finalist

FINALISTS FOR 2010 HAVE BEEN SELECTED

Elementary School

Fred Hechinger - “The Devil and Daniel Webster” - 4th grade – NY

Claire Lemon - “How I Became the Official, Gold Medalist of Stair Number Seven.” - 4th grade – UT

Annie Price - “Scissors” - 4th grade – MO

Middle School

Lindsey Porter - “Knock, Knock, Who's There” - 8th grade – KY

Aleisha Keller - “Beauty Is ... Grandma” - 7th grade – UT

Kaitlin Koralewski - “Froggie and Me” - 7th grade – FL

High School

Justin Lindstrom - “Gregory, the Noisiest and Strongest Boy in Granger's Grove” - 9th grade – TX

Gwendolyn Pollock - “HiStory in Song” - 11th grade – FL

Aubrey Taylor - “The Power of the Lambs” - 9th grade – UT

Tandem

Jacob Craiger and David Benning - “Soap, Soap, Soap” - 8th grade and 4th grade - KY

Sarah and Jacob Filippone - “Mississippi Squirrel Revival” - 8th grade and 7th grade – TN

Sarah and Rebecca Bird - TN

Thanks to everyone who responded to our recent announcement on our decision to move the NYSS event to a winter date (February 2011). The comments have reconfirmed this decision as many agree that winter is better for the students and understand the challenge it is for us to secure appropriate theaters in the spring. More importantly your response highlighted just how important this event is to many of the students, families and coaches.

After reviewing your comments The City of Pigeon Forge has graciously agreed to go ahead and hold an event this June 2010 AND then again in February 2011. This means we won't be missing an entire year and those Juniors and Seniors won't miss out on the opportunity to participate. As many of you have experienced, this is a special weekend and we simply don't want to loose momentum and risk losing your confidence in the event.

So with that said, there will be two timelines for us to announce, one for the June 2010 event and another for February 2011, AND for all of you storytelling coaches and state reps, we have a lot to do to get our youth tellers out there ready for a fun filled year of telling!

2010:

The selected finalists have been notified and will receive an information packet by the end of April and given the opportunity to present their story at the National Youth Storytelling Showcase on June 10 - 12, 2010 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The "Grand Torchbearer" will be selected from among the performing finalists.

Updated information for next years event which has been moved to a winter date early in 2011.

2011: Revised Time-lines:

All selected tellers from local storytelling events must mail video tapes or DVD's to the State Representatives by Nov 1st, 2010 (or to the Pigeon Forge Office of Special Events if you do not have a state contact). See the website for details.
State Representatives will review all tapes and select the five (5) state finalists, and will send those five (5) tapes to the Pigeon Forge Office of Special Events by Nov 22nd, 2010. Tapes must be accompanied by the required and completed entry forms or they will be disqualified.
The Pigeon Forge Office of Special Events will establish an independent panel of judges for any entries without a State Representative, and will follow the same time line.

The national committee will forward the list of finalists to our office by Dec 13th, 2010.
Finalists will be notified either by telephone or email from Pigeon Forge before 5 p.m. on Dec 19th, 2010.
Finalists will receive an invitation to present their story at the National Youth Storytelling Showcase on Feb 3 - 5, 2011 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. The "Grand Torchbearer" will be selected from among the performing finalists.

The 2009 National Youth Storytelling Showcase proved to be another outstanding year of youth storytelling. After the last performance storyteller Donald Davis approached all the youth and exclaimed, "These youth are amazing! They just keep getting better and better year after year!" Andy Offutt Irwin stated, "I fear for my job as a storyteller...these youth tellers will be getting all of my gigs!" All 15 youth tellers were fabulous with a quality of telling that could keep any audience spellbound.

“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 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 Pigeon Forge on June 10 - 12, 2010 and again February 3rd, 4th and 5th 2011.

All of this leads to an evening NYSS storytelling concert, where eachof 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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