Spellbinders Oral Storytelling Celebrates 30th Anniversary
COLORADO – October 16,November, 2019 – Through the art of oral storytelling, Spellbinders® enhances literacy, encourages character development, and builds intergenerational community.
The Spellbinders® core program is training individuals, at least 90% of whom are 50 and older, in the art of oral storytelling, and placing these individuals as volunteer storytellers in their local schools. Storytellers return to the same classrooms each month, forming mentoring relationships with children that last throughout the year, and often continue for several years. Storytelling brings literacy, art, multi-cultural ideas, inspiration and the human touch to both older adults and eager young listeners. While the Spellbinders® target populations, target populations are both the older adult elder storytellers and the elementary school-aged young listeners, ultimately the whole community benefits when intergenerational gaps are filled with love and the art of storytelling.
During the 2018-2019 school year, Spellbinders® Storyteller Volunteers reached 371,068 children in 1,915 schools, with almost 500 volunteers, the majority of them in the Front Range of Colorado.
We are facing a pivotal moment in the history of Spellbinders®. As we move into our 30th year of storytelling for children, we are challenged as never before to fund the services that oversee crucial aspects of the 14-Chapter network.
We invite you to link arms with Spellbinders® as we develop strategies to sustain our vital mission in the years to come and to
• We, the members of Spellbinders®, are volunteers who love storytelling and embrace the joy and power of stories. We believe that oral storytelling:
Is a natural avenue to help children develop literacy skills by engendering a love of stories, both oral and written.
• Builds connections between generations, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart.
• Shares the wisdom, values, humor and sense of community embodied in stories of all cultures throughout time.
• Fosters awareness of the importance of virtues such as mutual respect, integrity, perseverance, empathy and cooperation.
keep the magic of oral storytelling alive.
We appreciate your donations to Spellbinders® which are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please send a check to Spellbinders – 2601 S. Lemay Ave, Suite 7-415, Fort Collins, CO 80525.
Our Mission: Through the art of oral storytelling, Spellbinders® enhances literacy, encourages character development, and builds intergenerational community.
Request: We are requesting support to announce that we only have 15 days left of our October fundraising drive. Below, you will find testimonials to this program as well as a picture of some of our wonderful volunteers.
Teacher Testimonials:
“Children love the shared experience of a great storyteller and Nina is an amazing artist in this realm. We were able to link many concepts to her stories. There are lessons about character and making good choices which is perfect for this age and crossing over to classroom management and behavior. Thanks, so much for this wonderful experience!” -Roaring Fork Valley-
Karolyn brings stories alive with not only the stories from around the world but reinforces them with her personal traveling. Children respond to her natural ways of telling a good folktale and they can hear her enthusiasm for the story in her voice. When stories come alive it makes the children want to read more stories on their own. The stories she selects are intriguing and draw them in, so they get captured in the tale and want to know more. -Steamboat Springs-
We count down the days until Mrs. Owens comes, we look forward to seeing her that much! She brings a sense of both calm and adventure every time we see her! She takes us to new fascinating places and lures us in with her carefully crafted storytelling. Students hone their listening skills as she weaves her story magic in our classroom. It is rare that a student leaves the carpet for anything, not wanting to miss a word of action! -Boulder-
