Mullis: Teens have the tools to be Mosaic storytellers
When the Battle Creek Enquirer launched the Mosaic Storytelling Showcase in 2016, I was asked to be a part of it. I fell in love with storytelling, so much so I found myself back in high school.
The Enquirer wanted more young people involved with Mosaic. Harper Creek and Battle Creek Central wanted their students to tell their stories. The Mosaic coordinator wanted me to help facilitate a storytelling workshop for students.
I loved the idea. Our young people don't talk, they text. They tweet, post, pin, and snap. How can our community know this generation, if we don’t hear their stories?
However, teenagers can be intensely private souls who are hard to engage. Telling first-person stories to faces, not screens, with voices, not thumbs, might be a challenge.
Fortunately, I didn’t face this challenge alone.
Sean Washington, another Mosaic storyteller, was going with me. He works with high school groups all the time through his job with the Substance Abuse Council. I've seen him in action. He’s very relaxed. The only experience I have with high school groups is as a substitute teacher. I've seen myself in action. I'm not relaxed.
Sean and I crafted and practiced our presentation. The night before we were to go to Harper Creek, it snowed.
I won’t lie. I hoped for a snow day.
The first group was there before the sun rose. They looked sleepy and not that enthused about adults lecturing. Sean and I broke the ice with stories.
A few stray smiles.
We invited them to share something – one thing that made them angry, proud or scared. Slowly, the vibe changed.
Sharing just one fact about themselves created intimacy.
We gave them the bones of what makes certain memories good stories. We shared how to shape those stories into art that engages. Then, we gave them a prompt, broke them into random pairs, and left them to tell stories to each other.
The volume of the room went up, but not like the din of a lunchroom cafeteria. This was different. Every pair had a teller, animated with telling, and a listener, animated with listening – sparkling eyes, nodding heads, open hands.
It was working.
Subsequent sessions brought us groups who were eager to laugh and groups who were reluctant to smile. It didn't matter. Once they started sharing their stories, that classroom felt like a family room.
A week later we took the workshop to Battle Creek Central. The students there amazed us, swapping full-fledged stories during the warm-up activity.
I don't think we were teaching these kids anything new. Storytelling is very old and innately human. We are all storytellers and every soul who ever walked the earth has unique stories to tell.
As Sean repeated over and over to each new group, the only things you truly own are your memories. They are your stories and the only person who can tell those particular stories is you.
The biggest reward, outside of seeing students engaged, was having that handful of kids hang back after each session, wanting more information about Mosaic.
Mac McCullough, who created Mosaic, wanted to capture as many stories as he could – all races, ages, and backgrounds. He knew these stories, taken together, were the soul of Battle Creek.
Here's hoping we’ve cast a wide net in 2017.
Nicole L.V. Mullis is the author of “A Teacher Named Faith.” You can reach her at nlvm.columns@gmail.com or www.NicoleLVMullis.com.
Mosaic Storytelling Showcase
- Workshop: 7 p.m. April 20, Barista Blues (91 W. Michigan Ave.)
- Story Swap: 10 a.m. April 22, AccessVision (70 W. Michigan Ave.)
- Story Swap: 7 p.m. April 25, Enquirer (77 E. Michigan Ave.)
- Audition: 7 p.m. April 27, Enquirer (77 E. Michigan Ave.)
- Performance: 7 p.m. May 11, First Congregational Church (145 Capital Ave. NE)