Do you ever wonder what middle school students are thinking and feeling? Do you ever wish you could hear directly from them? You’ll have the chance to do just that when Oceanside Middle School students read original stories from their recently published anthology on Friday, June 7, at 12:30 p.m. at Watts Hall in Thomaston. The event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.

This spring, 28 Oceanside Middle School students wrote personal narratives with The Telling Room. An innovative RSU grant allowed local Telling Room teaching artists Sarah Welch, Willy Ulbrich, and Nancy Lloyd, along with OMS teachers Catherine Harris, Valerie Hilchey, and Melissa Boggs, to meet the students in their classrooms for 12 one-hour sessions of intensive creative writing instruction. The sixth-grade students explored the theme “What if it’s true?” and immersed themselves in writing mini memoirs that capture one true story in each of their lives.

As Sarah Welch put it in the anthology’s introduction, “Sometimes, it’s easiest to write a made-up story with fictional characters and settings and plotlines from the imagination, because when we look inside at our own truths, lies, and lessons learned, we sometimes hesitate to tell our truth. What if I tell the truth? Will my readers believe me? At The Telling Room, we ask our young writers to have the courage to tell their true stories because we believe every story is worth telling and every story is worth hearing.”

The middle school students wrote personal narratives about walking through the woods, the scents and sounds of the Maine coastline, what it's like tohuddle during a lockdown, the lingering sadness that remains at the loss a family member, a pet, even a beloved toy, and the view from atop mountains. Welch noted, “[These are stories] that speak the truth of frustration and betrayal of self and others; stories that get at the heart of fear; and stories that lightheartedly recall blush inducing, giggle inspiring, poor decisions. Always, these earnest writers are truth tellers, showing us the hearts and spirits and experiences of twenty-eight middle schoolers who had the courage to tell their stories.”

The students’ stories were published in a beautifully designed and professionally printed anthology to be given to students, their families, and the school library. Copies of the book will be on hand at the event.

The Telling Room is a Maine-based literary arts education nonprofit whose mission is to empower youth through writing and share their voices with the world. Focused on young writers age 6 to 18, its programs seek to build confidence, strengthen literacy skills, and provide real audiences for student writing.

For the past two years The Telling Room has been working to expand its proven literary arts education programs to the Midcoast region. During this time they have trained local teaching artists, partnered with area organizations and schools, and served 250 students in the Rockland region through in-school programs.

Children and young adults who work with The Telling Room have been shown to increase their self-confidence and strengthen their creative skills, which are vital in the 21^stcentury. A growing body of research demonstrates that students who participate in programs like The Telling Room’s, which integrate the arts and writing and emphasize small group work and one-on-one attention, are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement; can raise their grades by one letter in the course of a school year; strengthen their problem-solving and critical thinking skills; and are two times less likely to engage in risky behaviors.

This is the second year that The Telling Room has offered its school-based programs to RSU 13 schools. Last year, The Telling Room provided two residency programs and five workshops for the following schools: Owl's Head Central School, Saint George Elementary, Oceanside Middle School, and Oceanside High School. They delivered the same slate of programming this year (2018-19), while also seeking to build partnerships with area youth-serving and arts nonprofits and secure the funding necessary to launch a locally-staffed pilot year of full programming starting this summer.  

The Telling Room is looking to raise $50,000 by June 30, 2019 in order to offer a full suite of literary arts education programs in the coming school year (2019-2020) in the Rockland and Camden areas, including In-school Programs, Afterschool Programs, Field Trips, Summer Camps, Collaborations, and Community Events.  The Telling Room’s executive director Celine Kuhn said, “We believe that this dynamic geographic expansion has great potential to bring the transformative power of writing to many more of Maine’s young people in a new way and with excellent results and benefits to the whole Midcoast community.”

For more information about the Oceanside Middle School event, please contact Program Director Nick Whiston: nick@tellingroom.org

For more information about how to support the Telling Room Midcoast funding initiative, please contact Development Director Sarah Schneider: sarah@tellingroom.org

For more information about The Telling Room, please contact Executive Director Celine Kuhn: celine@tellingroom.org