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Treasures of the High Country

Treasures of the High Country
Mabel School family and ASU UPartner

Blue Ridge Family Literacy Beginnings at Mabel School

The Blue Ridge Family Literacy Project (BRFLP) originated in 2005 with Mabel School’s effort to involve some of its constituent community in a project designed to involve families in a shared tech-based learning experience with their children and students (UPartners) from Appalachian State University’s Reich College of Education teacher preparation program. An ASU team including Dr. Walter Oldendorf, Dr. William Peacock Dr. Ann Marie Clark, and Dr. Julie Horton, and Dr. Matthew Roberts worked closely with then Mabel School Principal Brenda Reese and teachers Amy Miller and Audrey Tate to develop an activity which would serve to enhance learning skills while celebrating the cultures of individual families and the greater school community. Modeled on the Fifth Dimension, an international technology based literacy program, the Mabel project brought together families, UPartners, and technology at a community school site. For ten weeks the group met, shared their family stories, learned and polished computer skills, and produced Mabel Musings, a published anthology of those stories.

Hardin Park School Hispanic Family Storytelling

Since early fall of 2008, six to eight Hispanic families of a variety of nationalities have been meeting once a week to share stories and (supper) with Appalachian State University and Watauga High School student partners (U/HSPartners), at Hardin Park School, in Boone, the heart of the High Country of Western North Carolina.

Ms. Mary Smalling, Principal of Hardin Park School, has made the school the center of project activities.

The result of our storytelling efforts has been the publication of Dreams, a digitally-produced anthology of favorite family histories. The book has been published in hard copy, and is accessible below in a pdf format.

Scroll down and click the link to begin your experience with Dreams!

Spring, 2009 finds our Hispanic project group branching out in terms of learning experiences. Families are learning the basics of document and presentation production through the use of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint software. Family stories will continue to be a focus , as families research their cultural heritage via the Internet, in working to offer a bigger picture of their family identities.

Over the next several weeks, we will publish individual story excerpts, PowerPoint project presentations and related video and still photos of our project sessions.

Other project contributors include Ms. Yvonne Mullis (Site Coordinator/HS Supervising Teacher), Ms. Marcia Alayon (Assistant Site Coordinator)Dr. Shanan Fitts (UPartner Supervising Professor), Dr. Catherine Fountain(UPartner Supervising Professor), Ms. Amy Eberle (Assistant Project Director), Ms. Mary Boyer (Consultant and Friend to the Project), and Dr. Linda Pacifici (Project Evaluator), Ing. Diego Cardona (Technology Consultant).

Bueno...cuidate!
-bp

Hardin Park Parent-U/HSPartner Collaboration

Hardin Park Parent-U/HSPartner Collaboration







Hardin Park ninos at play

Blowing Rock Family Storytelling - Spring, 2009

One of the truly magical aspects of life in the High Country is the diversity of population that exists here!

Culture in the community of Blowing Rock is defined in many ways, but certainly the deepest cultural roots in this community are held by the families who have lived here for many generations.

And, so we, in the Blue Ridge Family Literacy Project, here at Appalachian State University, just down the road from the storied community of Blowing Rock, have found ourselves in the enviable position of being invited by some of those families to experience their culture through the sharing of some of their favorite family stories.

Students (UPartners) from Dr. Ann Marie Clark's Learner Diversity class in the College of Education, are partnering with those families for the purpose of publishing those family history masterpieces.

Our project site coordinator, Ms. Mary Lentz, and her assistant, Ms. Myra Shore have been critical to the project's success, as they have recruited participating families and coordinated the use of Blowing Rock School facilities in support of our efforts. School Principal, Patrick Sukow has also been very supportive of this project.

Please join us in the weeks to come, as we publish excerpts of those stories with video and still photos of the family/UPartner storytelling visits.

Take care.
-bp

ASUPartners and Storytellers - Capturing and Celebrating Blowing Rock Culture

ASUPartners and Storytellers - Capturing and Celebrating Blowing Rock Culture






Project Sponsorship and Support

BRFLP projects are supported by a
Reich College of Education SALT Grant
and by the following Watauga County businesses and Appalachian State University organizations:
Appalachian State University Printing and Publication Department
Appalachian Parents Association
Wal-Mart
Pizza Hut
Dos Amigos
Los Arcos
Mellow Mushroom
Makotos
Daniel Boone Inn
Beef O'Brady's
Jersey Mike's
Cici's Pizza

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

And so, there was a Blowing Rock Hoo-ha!!!

On Monday evening, April 2o, 2009, Blowing Rock family storytellers and their ASU UPartners gathered to celebrate their storytelling accomplishments with a High Country Hoo-ha of their own!
The evening was made even more special by the arrival of a group of visitors from Aberystwyth University in Wales! Many of our visitors work with a group called Dim Prob (Welsh for "No Problem"). Dim Prob promotes student volunteering in the local community, acting as a portal for both projects and students to connect. To find out more about Dim Prob, go to www.aberguild.co.uk
Our Blowing Rock families outdid themselves by laying out a potluck supper that you just wouldn't believe! So, the Welsh got a literal taste of the High Country!
The group was also wonderfully serenaded by local singer/songwriter Diana Ridge - www.myspace.com/sarvisridge
Finally, UPartners Shelby Johnson and Molly Suddes presented their iMovie, Blowing Rock Family Storytelling, an overview of this project.



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