StoryFIRE Residency

Videos from StoryFire Prototype

Phases I & II: Songwriting Workshops & Recording Session
In phases I & II of this residency, fifth graders from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Sumner Club in Roslindale, Massachusetts wrote lyrics that they later recorded at Futura Productions Recording Studio in Roslindale, Massachusetts. Their audio was then animated by fifth and sixth graders at the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Guiding artists: Guy Mendilow, Courtney Swain & Chris Baum
Residency produced by Celebrity Series of Boston & Lesley Ellis School. Videos produced by & used with permission of, Celebrity Series of Boston

Phase III: Animation
Students from the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, Massachusetts interpreted the lyrics of the song written and recorded by the students of Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Sumner Club in Roslindale, Massachusetts, animating them with the guidance of animation artist Pell Osborn.

Residency produced by Celebrity Series of Boston & Lesley Ellis School. Videos produced by & used with permission of, Celebrity Series of Boston

StoryFire Outcome: Storytelling through Lyrics & Animation
5th and 6th Grade students from the Lesley Ellis School in Arlington, Massachusetts, designed and animated this evocative visual response to the haunting musical track, "We Sing of Our Home" based on a song by Bob Dylan, with lyrics written by students at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Sumner Club in Roslindale, Massachusetts.
Residency produced by Celebrity Series of Boston & Lesley Ellis School. Videos produced by & used with permission of, Celebrity Series of Boston

This Residency’s Details

Residency Participants:

Middle-school student leaders from:

a) Caribbean/Latine lower income immigrant families attending an urban after-school program

b) White-presenting middle-upper class families attending suburban private school

Residency Purpose:

  • To strengthen student leadership by honing storytelling skills focusing on personal stories that invite generous listening, empathy and curiosity using moving spoken word, music and hand-drawn animation. 

  • To catalyze relationships and understanding between seemingly disparate student communities 

Gatherings to Achieve Residency Purpose:

  • 4-day lyric-writing workshop in urban after-school program with composers/performers Courtney Swain, Chris Baum and Guy Mendilow. The curriculum walks students through an easy-to-follow process to transform personal experience into compelling storytelling through multisensorial language and metaphor.

  • Students direct and produce a studio recording of their song, performed by professional touring artists, in a professional studio. Students use a consensus process to arrive at aesthetic decisions as a group, and learn about recording techniques.

  • 7-10 session hand-drawn animation curriculum at suburban middle school with animation artist Pell Osborn. Together, students create animation for their peers’ studio-recorded song.

  • Digital pen-pal exchange between the two student groups. Students trade asynchronous videos to ask one another questions and establish rapport.

  • Culminating presentation in which the two groups co-present their work. Students speak about their experience, and answer questions, in a post-presentation artist talk (where the students are the primary artists). The event ends with a reception.

  • Repeat. Groups swap roles.