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Stories Alive!

Stories Alive encourages creativity & imagination among the youth in the Allegheny County Hsng. Auth. Sheldon Park & neighboring communities

Stories Alive! provides interactive learning, collaboration, mentoring and creative STEM activities that enhance social, emotional, physical and recreational experiences of elementary, middle and high school aged youth. All work together in the physical re-creation of the chosen story by sharing ideas & skills. The program continues to grow, featuring art, maker, and youth voice activities.

Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

2016

Established

-

Children

1

Countries
Updated
February 2019

About the innovation

Stories Alive!

The Deborah D. Booker Community Center (DDBCC) Stories Alive!!!, is an interactive event which began in 2016 to encourage collaboration, mentoring, and imagination between the elementary aged and teen participants in the Allegheny County Housing Authority’s Sheldon Park and neighboring communities, creating a ReMakeLearning opportunity which resulted in a production delivery of Stories Alive!!!, in 2016, 2017, 2018, and coming soon in 2019. In 2016, a reading program began in the community to encourage the children to improve their reading skills. Since 2016, each year, a story is selected by the group of approximately 10-15 youth and 10-15 teens to be brought to life by recreating the characters in the story and making props and/or life sized puppets, and creating, choreographing, and learning the accompanying movements for the story. When the youth and teens began working together and building up their excitement for the story, imaginations came alive. The teens guided the youth in the physical re-creation of the story and they all worked together sharing ideas and talents, and skills. In 2017, the program grew, featuring art, maker, and youth voice activities. The goal of the “Stories Alive!!!” program is to provide interactive learning, collaboration, mentoring experience, and creative STEM activities for children and teens that enhance the social, emotional, physical and recreational functioning of elementary, middle and high school aged children.

Implementation steps

Find an organization that works with youth
  • Community Center, Community Library, Schools, or any other agency/organization must have available space, staff, and youth participants.


Have the staff meet and discuss book/poetry choices
  • Narrow the selection to 3 choices and discuss what would present the best options for production
Have staff meet with teens in the program
  • Discuss presentation possibilities and make their selection.
Have staff and teens present project to younger children
  • Read the story to the younger children and have them act out sections.
  • Have teens and younger children discuss possible props and movements to recreate the story.
Have teens guide them
  • Collect materials for props.
  • Guide youth in choreographing for presentation.
  • Create the props.
  • Assign roles to youth for the performance.
Release the creativity and imaginations!
  • Have staff create invitations and flyers.
  • Have youth distribute them throughout the community with staff supervision.

Spread of the innovation

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