Author using storytelling to promote courage amid pandemic
WESTERN BUREAU:
ALTHOUGH SCHOOLS have been ordered closed due to the presence of COVID-19 in Jamaica, author and publisher Dr Jermaine Gordon has begun hosting storytelling sessions aimed at schoolchildren, utilising the Zoom conferencing app, which he hopes will spark interest among the youngsters during this stressful period.
“Our children need help in times of crisis, so I have been searching for traditional tales from around the world, stories that may provide an internal place of peace for children, and stories that explore and transform feelings of powerlessness and fear into courage and inspiration,” Gordon told The Gleaner.
“It is my hope that these cultural treasures can provide new and rich images to replace actual or televised images of violence, panic, death, sickness and hopelessness. There are immediate ways to help our children find calm while feeling strong emotions and one of these is the intimate sharing of stories,” added Gordon.
Gordon’s interactive Zoom conferences, which are held every Thursday with as many as 35 children between ages nine and 12, began in March shortly after the Government ordered schools closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students and their parents participate in storytelling sessions and talkback periods, with students being encouraged to use their imaginations to build stories of their own.
“One of the special features offered in the programme is the ‘add a line’, where the children are given a plot for a story and then allowed to develop the story, stimulating their creative powers 2and genius,” explained Gordon. “A good story communicates a message that sticks in your brain, and in the sessions, parents can also learn how to make their images stick in others’ brains like glue.
“We are planning and coordinating an online concert for Child Month in May, with approximately 100 children expected to showcase their talents. Each child is allowed to submit a 60-second video of them singing, dancing, playing a musical instrument, or doing a poem or monologue,” added Gordon.
This method of promoting students’ imaginative abilities is similar to Gordon’s earlier Inspiring Our Future 360 Degrees education programme, which was launched in 2015. That programme, which has been taken into 65 schools over the past four years, allows students up to the high-school and college levels to express their feelings through music and journaling activities.
‘Our children need help in times of crisis, so I have been searching for traditional tales from around the world, stories that may provide an internal place of peace for children ... . ’