News
High school students learn art of storytelling, work on public speaking skills
High school students in Mrs. Michaels’ Business
Communications class and the seventh graders in Mrs. Hughes’ English
class have been learning the art of storytelling while working on their
public speaking skills.
Mary Murphy, a professional storyteller from Albany, has been working
with Heatly students through a grant received by Mrs. Michaels through
the Capital District Service Learning Network.
The Business Communication students learned how to use a short story as
an introduction to a speech and the seventh-grade students learned the
techniques necessary to grab an audience’s attention with a good story.
Both age groups worked together for a few days to practice their new
skills. The seventh graders went on to perform their stories for
first-grade students—and got rave reviews!
Mrs. Michaels and Mrs. Murphy have started an after-school group for
seventh-grade students interested in learning more about storytelling.
The group will practice their new skills as they work with students from
Maple Hill Middle School in Schodack to prepare for performances in the
community and to attend the Riverway Storytelling Festival in Albany
this April.
