It is said that long ago Story, dressed
in the richest brocades and finest jewels, came across his brother
Naked Truth who was weeping. "Naked Truth, why do you weep so?"
"It's a terrible thing not being wanted!
That is why I weep," said Naked Truth. "At first, everyone seems
happy to see me, but then, when I speak, they turn their backs or
worse...ask me to leave. You see, no one wants to listen to me."
"Oh, now I understand. However, that is
easily solved," said Story. "Come with me."
So, Story dressed Naked Truth in colorful
folktales, multi-layered legends, sheerest parables and richest
fables. Now, whenever Truth started to speak, everyone listened. You
see, no one wanted to listen to naked truth, but everyone listened,
when it was truth dressed in story.
-
Adapted from an old Jewish Folktale
One of the goals of Belleville’s
BASIC Initiative is to provide speakers and training to promote
community of character. From this stated goal, the idea for the
Belleville Festival of Stories was born.
In 2008, the BASIC board decided to spearhead a new storytelling
festival. Since the heart of BASIC is highlighting and honoring
character, founding a festival of stories was a natural fit -
truths dressed in story! A committee of
community leaders and storytelling artists came together to discuss
ideas for the 2009 festival and for its future. Through the generosity
of numerous community and arts foundations (see below), the core program
will become a reality. On March 27, 2009
Belleville's Festival
of Stories
premiered.
There were two separate parts. The first was a one-day
festival with both day and evening events at Lindenwood University,
Belleville Campus. During the day, 2000 Belleville students from 4-6th
grades came to listen to stories by nationally-known storytellers
and participated in a workshop given by regional storytellers from
throughout Illinois and the St. Louis area. The workshops combined
storytelling and character education. Each teller masterfully
presented his/her own story and workshop idea based on one or more of the
pillars of character.
The evening event was a fundraiser to secure
funds for future festivals and to provide funds for other BASIC
Initiative projects that promote character education in our youth.
Future festivals hope to offer schools the
opportunity to bring storytellers to their schools for K-3 grades and to
expand the festival to two days with storytelling at local sites -
museums, libraries, coffee houses, hospitals, etc. Another goal is to
keep storytelling going throughout the year by offering adult-hearted
stories to coffee houses and to have storytellers at existing Belleville
events - Art on the Square, Gingerbread Walk, and other special
occasions.
Imagine that! A day of storytelling where your students not only hear
entrancing stories from nationally-known, dynamic storytellers, but also
attend one of twenty edu-taining workshops that involve stories and
character education.
Every student and teacher
in Belleville from 4-6th grade was invited to attend for either a morning
(9:00-11:00) or afternoon session. (12:00-2:00). During each session,
half of the students heard a nationally-acclaimed storyteller for 45
minutes, and the other half they attended a workshop on stories and
character education by experienced regional tellers. Then, they switched.
We received monetary
donations from many sponsors, grants, and individuals allowing schools
to attend the event at no cost. Donations ($100-$200) from the school or parents’ club
continue to be greatly
appreciated.
To find out more about this event and the
future of character education in storytelling in the Belleville area, go
to the links below:
