Fireflies Healing & Teaching Storytelling Experiences
"Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly,
Little, flitting white-fire insect,
Little dancing white fire creature,
Light me with your little candle."
From "The Song of Hiawatha" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Stonebridge World School
Stonebridge is a charter school with many students who face economic, social, and emotional challenges. In this school, my work developed from working with individual students to working with whole classrooms. I chose a story for three grade levels around a different theme each week.
Anderson Unity School of Minneapolis
Anderson Unity School is a Minneapolis public school with a high Hispanic population. Many of the children were dealing with abandonment issues around fears of the surprise deportation of their parents. I told stories at three grade levels on different themes.
Ginew /Golden Eagle Program at The American Indian Center in Minneapolis
The mission of the Golden Eagle Program is to help American Indian youth strengthen and develop life skills that will give them the knowledge to make healthy choices (www.GinewGoldenEagle.org). I asked permission to tell stories from Jackie "Red Woman" Lindow, a Native American elder, and storyteller. Jackie encouraged me to do this work.
I told stories to enhance the work of Golden Eagles, stories of those who have contributed to their culture and the culture at large, and stories relating to Native American values of respect for all beings and the earth.
Walker Methodist Health Center, Minneapolis; St. Croix Hospice, Oakdale; Watkins Nursing Home, Winona, MN
Debra has listened to and midwifed the telling of life stories by elders and family members extensively in her work as a long-term care social worker at Walker Methodist Health Center, and as a grief counselor at St. Croix Hospice. Debra also gave workshops for college students about listening to the stories of elders in her work as the creator of the volunteer program, Adopt-A-Grandparent-A-Grandchild in Winona, MN.