Youth, Educators and Storytellers (YES)

Youth, Educators and Storytellers (YES)
teaches to tell and tells to teach.

2023 Chair: Angela Lloyd

The goal of the YES Special Interest Group (SIG) is to inspire and nurture storytelling by and for youth. Members include youth storytelling coaches, teachers, teaching artists, librarians, full-time storytellers, and other mentors who view storytelling as a vital, essential art, as well as student storytellers who want to learn more about the art and craft of the oral tradition.

Through YES youth storytellers are meeting kindred spirits. Educators are discovering that storytelling actively engages students in learning. Full-time storytellers are learning about education standards, curriculum needs, and how children learn, all through participating memberships in YES.

Many YES members include mentoring, motivating, and providing venues for young tellers among their responsibilities. Youth Tellabrations have been some of the most successful activities for preschool-high school tellers. As a community of storytellers, YES understands that youthful voices are essential to the future of storytelling; we invest in that future by spotlighting youth storytelling groups, offering suggestions and problem-solving ideas, and showcasing successful models.

YES values the integration of storytelling into the P-12 curriculum, providing practical support as educators use storytelling. Lists of curricular ideas and differentiated activities to promote the integration of storytelling are generated and shared. Mindful of learning objectives and state standards, educators integrate storytelling into reading, language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Join us as we created and find new directions in the effort to discover what storytelling can offer today’s youth. We will give you the tools to accomplish great things with young people. Tomorrow’s storytellers need you today!

YES Mentorship Program

At the 2015 NSN YES Pre-Conference, the membership asked for a mentorship program where members could work with more experienced tellers on developing their youth programs. SIG member Joanna Demarest has developed such a program for the SIG. The program focuses on helping those individuals working with children and students in a variety of settings: classrooms, assemblies, afterschool programs, libraries – anywhere where youth have an opportunity to hear the spoken word.

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