Ocala Storytelling Festival

      Albert Einstein once famously said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge". For those who work to bring the Arts to children this is a bedrock belief. Imagination is the foundation on which higher learning rests. Without imagination, ideas are few and far between. Without imagination, the creativity to implement new ideas in exciting ways is lacking. What you are left with is rote learning; a mechanical way to acquire facts without thought for their meaning. In their efforts to standardize a level of excellence, schools are left with little time for the enrichment that truly allows excellence to flourish. Of course, schools, when they squeeze out arts programs, are only reacting to their own community's desire to see "more bang for their buck" in the form of good test scores and the like. Future employers, however, are beginning to see the effects of this kind of learning in the form of employees without a lot of good, creative ideas. But the sad fact remains; there is no time or money for the Arts in our schools. The Ocala Storytelling Festival, Inc. introduces children to the ancient art of storytelling as a way to bring some imagination back to the classroom. For the past nine years, the festival has offered area schools the opportunity to bring students to venues all across Ocala for a morning of storytelling by nationally-known and local tellers. For the 9th Annual Ocala Storytelling Festival, with the help of a grant from Target, we broadened and enhanced our focus into a youth storytelling initiative we call "Bringing Youth to Story". In addition to the Friday morning student field trip, members of the festival committee put together several storytelling resource kits that is now available for checkout from local libraries. The kits contain books, videos, bibliographies and other materials to encourage teachers to use stories in the classroom to enhance and reinforce what they are already teaching. During the 2008 festival we will also, as part of this initiative, be once again showcasing youth tellers with a concert on Saturday. Award-winning youth tellers from around the state will be performing at this concert, as well as several from a local storytelling club. A concert like this allows students to realize that they too have a voice and a story to tell. 

The Youth Storytelling Showcase for the 2008 Festival is sponsored by

Featured Youth Teller

Hannah Wynne

In May 2006 Hannah told her first story publicly.
Since then she has been invited to tell stories in six different
states and has appeared in the NSN
Kids Koncert in both 2006 and 2007. And in 2006 Hannah shared the stage
with Bill Harley and Larry Kelly at National Story Night in
Jonesborough, TN. In 2007 she was awarded the title
National High School Torchbearer at the National Youth Storytelling
Showcase. Hannah has also taught workshops on storytelling for children
ages 3-103.

A high school senior, Hannah will be going to Taylor University Fort
Wayne next fall where she will study professional writing. Hannah hopes
to spend her life sharing the magic of stories in all of its forms.

 Gwendolyn Pollack

  Audrianne Allen         David Cleland

  Ethan Cleland           Jared Evans

   Rene Pollock     Javan Latson

     Shawna Akerman  Victoria