Teaching by telling: Stories bring history to life for elementary school students

Storyteller Tim Lowry engages Arnold Elementary fifth graders with his Southern drawl and tall tales, which are part of his repertoire
"of stories of the People, by the People and for the People." Prior to headlining the 21st annual Ocoee Story Fest on Friday evening at Cleveland's historic First Presbyterian Church, the South Carolinian visited several local schools as part of a storytelling tour funded by the Arts in Education Committee of the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce.
Storyteller Tim Lowry engages Arnold Elementary fifth graders with his Southern drawl and tall tales, which are part of his repertoire "of stories of the People, by the People and for the People." Prior to headlining the 21st annual Ocoee Story Fest on Friday evening at Cleveland's historic First Presbyterian Church, the South Carolinian visited several local schools as part of a storytelling tour funded by the Arts in Education Committee of the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce.

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Storytelling is great way to show kids that they probably know more than they think they do, says Tim Lowry, who proved his point with a group of Arnold Elementary students.

The Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce brought the South Carolina storyteller to Cleveland, where he visited local schools ahead of the 21st annual Ocoee Story Fest last week.

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Contact Judy Baker at 423-479-7887 or tellone@bellsouth.net.Visit the Cleveland Storytelling Guild website at www.tennessee tellers.org.

On Thursday, Lowry delivered tall tales in a Southern drawl to 60 Arnold fifth-graders.

"It shows you that so much of what you need is already in you," Lowry said. "In this digital age, we are led to believe that what we need is somewhere else."

His repertoire of "stories of the people, by the people, and for the people" included reminisces of his first-grade teacher, who was equipped at all times with everything she needed, "like a cowboy." She dished out stern but loving discipline and read to her class every day from "The Big Book" of fairytales.

"We knew that if it wasn't in the Bible, it was in 'The Big Book,'" Lowry told his young audience.

It was not the modern, sweetened versions of fairytales she used to feed the students' imaginations, but the earlier, dark and gruesome versions of those tales, he said. And her students loved it.

Lowry had a lively talk with the students about social studies, his favorite subject. The students shared what they were learning about the 19th-century American West, mentioning sod houses and Buffalo Soldiers.

"Dead people is my thing, and you don't wind up in social studies books unless you're dead," he said, rattling off a string of early American presidents. "Thomas Jefferson - dead. Abraham Lincoln - dead."

In turn, the kids asked Lowry why he chose to be a storyteller.

"It's the only thing I'm good at," said Lowry, who said he discovered that he was a much better storyteller than actor while taking theater courses in college.

Arnold librarian Rebecca Marino said the students have been excited for weeks over Lowry's visit. Many of them were in the audience of last year's Ocoee Story Fest program at the school, she said.

"Storytelling is where someone actually sits and talks with them instead of them reading a book or staring at a screen," said Marino. "You experience storytelling as it relates to your own level and your own experiences."

Judy Baker, event chair for the festival and program director for the Cleveland Storytelling Guild, expressed gratitude for growing Allied Arts Council funding that has enabled the annual storyteller program to visit local schools over the years.

"They recognize that storytelling is a viable art," Baker said. "It connects to these children face to face."

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.

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