The Public Schools of Northborough Southborough’s (NSBORO) Coalition for Equity hosted local author, educator and speaker Jennifer De Leon on April 7 for her presentation, “Power of Storytelling.” Her presentation is the start of the District’s Story Bridge project. The project’s objective per De Leon’s website is to “bring diverse groups of people together to shape, share and hear our unique life stories.”
The Story Bridge will be reviewing applications through May 1, 2022 and accepting only 10 community members from Northborough or Southborough ages 14+, who will participate in workshops and coached through the writing and presenting of their story. These stories will be presented live in October.
Here are some specifics to know about the project:
- Who should apply? Anyone who is a member of the NSBORO community, including, but not limited to, parents, students, staff, faculty, administrators, and more! All participants should be at least 14 years old.
- Do I need to be a writer? Absolutely not! Story Bridge facilitators Jennifer De Leon and Adam Stumacher will coach you through writing and presenting your story. As educators, they’ve worked with experienced and novice writers.
- What’s the time commitment? We will meet as a group four times between now and September and present at an all community event in October. You’ll also be writing a bit on your own. Here’s the breakdown:
- May 2022: You’ll hear whether or not you’ve been selected by May 10. If you are, you’ll be invited to a meeting of the full cohort in late May for an Introduction to the Art of Storytelling session
- June 2022: You’ll bring the draft of your story to a meeting for a gentle feedback session with the group and later meet one-on-one with a Story Bridge facilitator for an individual coaching session to discuss your draft and get advice and feedback on how to develop the story.
- July 2022: We’ll meet again and discuss how to shape stories for an audience and write toward performance. Shortly after this session, you’ll send your revised draft to a Story Bridge facilitator and meet one-on-one to discuss presentation strategies and ideas.
- September 2022: We’ll meet with the full group and do a run-of-show and each participant will get a chance to practice in front of the group. Everyone will receive notes from the Story Bridge facilitators to consider as they continue to practice leading up to the event.
- October 20, 2022: The Northborough-Southborough Story Bridge Celebration takes place!
- Other questions can be emailed to hello@storybridgewrites.com.