Celebrate Kansas Voices

I had the privilege of attending the Celebrate Kansas Voices workshop held at K-State the past 2 1/2 days. It was an amazing experience facilitated by Wesley Fryer and co-facilitated by Cyndi Danner-Kuhn. The purpose of this professional development experience is to empower teachers to create digital histories that tell the stories of members of Kansas communities. Today was our 'show and tell' day, and what powerful, powerful stories were presented. Many of us who were participating were utilizing different digital tools than we were familiar with, or we were using tools we had used before but in different ways. Following each presentation, we discussed how important each story was, and how we were all richer for having seen the images and listened to the stories that went along with them. There is something so moving and important about hearing someone tell their story in his or her own voice.

I feel that what I learned from this workshop blends seamlessly with the philosophy and practice of the Flint Hills Writing Project. In our Summer Institutes we encourage teacher consultants to tell their own stories through teacher lore and narrative inquiry. By encouraging teachers to capture the voices that go with the stories, a layer of understanding and perspective is added. Wesley and I also talked about the Senior Project with Ann Parr that Rhonda Gierhan's Geek Squad facilitated. What a wonderful thing it was to hear those seniors read their stories. Capturing those stories on audio and video adds another layer of preservation.

I am looking forward to having my students interview community members and digitally record the stories of our families and communities. This workshop was a great inspiration for the start of a brand new school year. The previous video is my project from the workshop telling about my connection to and the history of the Wakefield Public Library. There is some revising I would like to do, but I was happy with what I could create in the 2 1/2 day workshop.