TEEN TIME

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executive Summary

The Green Valley Public Library Youth Services is proposing to facilitate a storytelling program to be offered to teens in the Green Valley Middle School and High School who are enrolled in drama class.  As a community resource the Green Valley Library and its Youth Services staff have supported the curriculum in the usual capacity.  In an effort to build a closer relationship between the school and the library, intense research was conducted and the Green Valley Library Youth Services has formulated a program that will enrich the learning experience of the students by introducing them to the world of storytelling.  The goal of this storytelling program is to give the students a new perspective on the written word by exploring the depth of each character as well as detailing the complexity of the story’s plot through storytelling.  

A storytelling program similar to the one being proposed was successful at the Chicago Public Library.  It was implemented in May 2001 and today enrollment in the program continues to be at full capacity.  The Green Valley Public Library has taken the Chicago Public Library’s storytelling vision one step further with its desire to offer it in the secondary schools of Green Valley. 

The program will be offered the fall semester to the high school students and the spring semester to the middle school students.  It entails classroom instruction twice a week for eighteen weeks beginning with basic storytelling and ending with a final community performance.  The program will be implemented by Sarah Spiegel and Ranell Dennis, the Green Valley Public Library's Youth Services staff, along with Kate McDowell the high school drama teacher and Sir Laurence Olivier the middle school drama teacher. 

The financial responsibility for all parties involved would be a split between both schools and the library.  The schools would be responsible for the one time cost of the books and DVD's and the printing and advertising each semester.  The library would be responsible for the one time cost of storytelling specific books, and two  semesters of staff compensation.  

The expertise and materials offered as well as the student and community benefits received through the implementation of the storytelling program will be sure to appeal to the people of the Green Valley community.