Friends! A quick update to my post from a few weeks ago: the Written Out Loud Storytelling School officially opens its doors this Sunday, September 30!
If you’ve been thinking about it, procrastinating, watching the hearings and the run-up to the hearings and the analysis of the hearings, ENOUGH. Here’s the signup sheet. Let’s DO this.
Jen and I have spent the past few weeks talking to a ton of you, and we have been thrilled and overjoyed by your reactions and feedback. Thanks to you, we now have two phenomenal classes ready to start learning the craft of storytelling - an amazing group of high schoolers (14-17) at 2pm, and a brilliant pack of middle-schoolers (10-13) at 4pm.
To quickly recap what the school is all about, think of Storytelling School as kind of School of Rock for storytelling. If your kid is glued to their phone or device for hours on end, inhaling show after show, our Storytelling School is designed to give them a place where they can finally exhale. It's a structured, creative, weekly gathering where they can plunge their hands in the clay of all the story knowledge they’ve been storing up these past few years, grab a couple of goopy handfuls of the characters and plot twists they love most, and then start molding and shaping new, original stories of their own. Nothing against To Kill A Mockingbird or Lord of the Flies, but our school teaches storytelling inspired by Stranger Things, Toy Story, Harry Potter, and Black Panther.
Our school is predicated on the idea that the shows our kids love so much aren’t by definition unhealthy. Accompanied by the structured creation of a consistent creative habit, our kids’ show consumption can be broadened and transformed into a lifelong storytelling skill.
Here’s a little more information if you’d like a deeper dive.
And here’s the signup sheet if you’re TOTALLY SOLD, SIGN ME UP, GOOD LORD WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE.
And by the way, signing up costs you $0.00. It just puts your name and address on our contact list, and lets us know that you're potentially interested in the school at some point down the road. This fall's classes are being held in Connecticut, but we do expect to expand as soon as possible to New York City, Philadelphia, LA, Baltimore, and Silicon Valley (and wherever else the interest is strongest) - and then, ultimately, we plan to create the digital version of the school, accessible by anyone, anywhere. So go ahead and sign up - won't cost'cha a thing. (If you would, in fact, like your child to take the class in CT this fall, the cost is $600 for the semester.)
One final shout out: I’m especially thrilled to announce that the Storytelling School is being hosted by an inspiring group of young entrepreneurs known as the B-Hive, based at 285 Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport. It’s an amazing space, and an even more amazing group of people. The B-Hivers collaborative spirit is infectious - your kids will feel the energy of the place as soon as they arrive. If you want to swing by on Sunday and audit a class, feel free!
Thanks again. We’ll keep you posted as the semester develops…
Josh
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