2 Truths & A Lie: A Story About Storytelling

Truth #1: Storytelling matters.

There is nothing like the power of a good story to bring people together. The closest we can get to “walking a mile in someone else’s shoes” is by listening to their stories. Whether sung, danced, written, drawn, or spoken, there’s an undeniable connecting force - some may even call it magic - that binds us together.

But, the everyday stories of our teaching artists remain largely untold…until now!

Moving forward, we are dedicating our email and social media to uplift the voices of our frontline responders: our teaching artists. Follow along as we explore the daily successes and struggles of our world-wide community of dance, music, theater, poetry, and podcasting educators. Get an exclusive glimpse behind the curtain to grasp the full extent of the impact of your support, and learn where it is still most desperately needed. By giving our teachers a platform to share their raw and authentic experiences, we are building a more genuine connection between our incredible donor community and the work happening in hundreds of classrooms around the world each week.

Truth #2: Simple stories can make a profound impact.

You don’t have to change the direction of the earth’s spin for it to be noteworthy. Last year, a teacher told a story about a few students who were struggling to concentrate/participate in her morning dance class. She thought maybe they were disinterested, they didn’t like her, or maybe they were just afraid to try new moves. But it turns out, they were struggling because they didn’t have access food before school started.

They were just hungry.

Instead of revamping the curriculum, bringing in a specialist, or trying a bunch of new-age participation activities, we told the teaching artist’s story to a few donors. Those donors gave that teaching artist a breakfast budget. All of sudden, everyone was participating and engaging with her lessons.

Simple story, profound impact. #donuts

Lie: Donors only want to see the happy ending

By giving you all a glimpse into the daily lives of our teachers and students, we hope to foster a deeper, more meaningful connection between the supporters and beneficiaries of our work. Buckle up for some great emails and social media posts to come: the good, the bad, and ugly. We can’t wait to hear what you think!!