South Suburban Schools Train on Storytelling Techniques to Tackle Youth Disconnect

South Suburban Schools Train on Storytelling Techniques to Tackle Youth Disconnect

A new movement is brewing up in Chicago-area schools to tackle the social and emotional disconnect of youth that’s triggered by the increasing

domination of social media and cell phone usage in society. And Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 in Markham, Ill. is leading the way.

About 20 educators from Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144 recently gathered at the district office for a three-hour Saturday morning training filled with lively exercises that showed them how to engage their students better through old-fashioned, in-your-face storytelling, conversations and activities.

The Front Porch Initiative™, a new storytelling movement, conducted the training in early November.

The Front Porch Initiative offers storytelling booklets filled with exercises that guide students in writing and sharing their stories about their beginnings, challenges, hopes and future. The journals are tailored for three different age levels.

“Front Porch is all about promoting and guiding healthy conversations, finding commonality and building community,” said LaCael Palmer- Pratt, training facilitator and curriculum developer for Front Porch Initiative.

“People don’t talk anymore, they text, email or just avoid talking. Front Porch establishes the safe space that allows for these communications to take place and level set in a judgement free zone. When people know they are being listened to not just heard, they feel more comfortable with sharing.”

“Our goal with this training is to help educators reflect on their experience as students and equip them with creative ways to help reach the students through positive conversations and building community through storytelling.”

Starting in November, the Prairie-Hills Elementary School District began implementing the Front Porch Initiative storytelling in their mentoring program, called Students With a Goal of Greatness (S.W.A.G. G.), which is offered at each of the district’s seven schools.

“I see our kids in classrooms when teachers ask them what do they think, how do they feel , and they find it difficult to express themselves,” said Julia A. Veazey, assistant superintendent of Prairie-Hills Elementary School District 144.

“I’m bringing Front Porch Initiative here so that students in my mentoring program will know that someone is interested in them, their feelings, their journey, their story.”

The Front Porch Initiative is a nonprofit organization based in Bloomington, Ill. Its storytelling booklets were launched in 2017 in Bloomington.

Learn more about the Front Porch Initiative at www.FrontPorchInitiative.org.

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