Maple Woods Non-Credit
Monday to Friday
8:30 - 4:00 p.m
MCC-Maple Woods
Learning Resources Building
First Floor, LR 102
2601 N.E. Barry Road
Kansas City, MO 64156
Phone: 816.604.3011
Fax: 816.437.3484
Storytelling
Celebration Highlights | Featured Storytellers | Schedule of Events | Workshops
Featured Storytellers
Bobby Norfolk
Stand-up comedian, children's television show host and former park ranger Bobby Norfolk knows how to connect to audiences of all ages through the tradition of storytelling. Using dynamic movement and vocal effects, he can create vibrant characters that come to life. Bobby uses his stories to highlight the African American experience and promote character education, cultural diversity and literacy.
Bobby is a three-time Emmy-winning host of "Gator Tales" and was also nominated for his show "Children's Theatre at Bobby's House." He has been honored nationally with the Circle of Excellence Award, which recognizes master storytellers committed to the highest standards of their craft. He has co-authored eight award-winning children's books and is currently serving on the St. Louis Storytelling Festival Advisory Council.
Olga Loya
Influenced by the lively but often true tales of her father and grandmother, Olga Loya embraces the rich storytelling tradition that was very much a part of her childhood growing up in East Los Angeles. Her family and person stories often explore the complexity of growing up and living as a bicultural person - Mexican and American - in the United States of today and yesterday.
Loya uses stories as a way of examining themes like healing, racism, and multiculturalism. She incorporates a variety of performance styles, including improvisation, movement and dance, song, and instruments. In addition to storytelling before all types of audiences, Loya also performs one-woman theater pieces and has written a book, "Momentos Mágicos (Magic Moments)," which won the Aesop Accolade in 1998, the International Reading Association Award for young adults and an America's Commendation for young adults.
Thom & Sarah Howard
The unique duo of Thom and Sarah Howard, a guitar player and a children's librarian, has been bringing their original children's songs, fingerplay and participation stories to young audiences throughout the Midwest for several years.
Sarah Howard has been the children's librarian at the Columbia Public Library for more than 17 years and is a founder of the Mid-Missouri Organization of Storytelling (MOST). She plays mandolin and autoharp and regularly presents workshops on storytelling and programming to librarians, teacher and parenting organizations.
Thom Howard has been performing on guitar for more than 20 years as a solo artist and in ensembles of all kinds and sizes. He plays ragtime, fingerstyle, classical, Spanish and Latin American music. Thom teaches stringed instruments classes at Central Methodist University and released his solo album "Sometimes a Guitar is Just a Guitar" in 2002.
Elizabeth Ellis
Elizabeth Ellis has been telling tales of heroic women, the Appalachian foothills and the great expanse of Texas, along with her personal stories, for more than 25 years. Her storytelling journey has taken her from her bustling hometown of Dallas, Texas, as far away as New Zealand and many places in between.
Ellis was selected as a Listener's Choice at the 30th Annual National Storytelling Festival in 2002 and has been a storyteller-in-residence at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tenn. She was also the first recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award, presented annually by the Tejas Storytelling Association to the person who has contributed the most toward the art of storytelling in the Southwest, and the Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Association.