Final Scholarship Slam is a Hit

High School Story Slam is a Hit!

 Boston, MA

 April 28, 2012

 

SL®2012 Junior winners

Last Saturday, twenty-eight high school juniors and seniors told their stories at City Year HQ in Boston as part of the rousing conclusion of StoriesLive®’s second consecutive season.  StoriesLive® remains the only program of its kind -- hosting the only intramural and regional high school story slams in the U.S. and engaging nearly two thousand students in Massachusetts in the art of storytelling this year alone. 

“We heard such AMAZING stories from all of [the] students, I am still smiling,” beamed massmouth, inc. Executive Director and program director at StoriesLive®, Norah Dooley.

All of last year’s participants -- Andover High School, Boston Latin Academy, Everett High School, Lynn Classical High School, and Newburyport High School – signed on again this year. They were joined by Chelsea High School, Revere High School, South Community High School in Worcester and the Humanities and Leadership Development High School in Lawrence.

massmouth choice: Junior Bahiya Nasuuna

After months of preparation, in-class workshops, coaching by massmouth educators and over a thousand shared real-life experiences, the best storytellers from each high school met to compete for another $5,000 in scholarship prizes.  The audience wasn’t disappointed.  We laughed, cried, gasped and applauded -- and twice, a conflicted panel of judges announced the winners. “With so many excellent stories, it was hard to pick just three from each session,” said judge Julius Jones.  The sentiment was echoed by all of the judges.

massmouth choice: Junior Jennifer MonJoie

First place, and $1,000 went to Junior Fernando Ortiz from Revere High School and Senior Amario Malcolm from Boston Latin Academy.  Runners-up ($500 each): Juniors Alan Estes from Newburyport, Angelina Ferullo from Everett and Seniors Caylen Bryant (Andover) and Shavar Lazarus (Boston Latin Academy).

massmouth choice: Junior Karen Hua

The Audience Choice award ($500 each) went to Junior Justin Alexander (South Community High) and Senior Varvarra Valentin (Lynn Classical).  massmouth choice ($100 each) was awarded to Juniors Jennifer MonJoie (Revere), Bahiya Nasuuna (Chelsea), Karen Hua (Andover) and Senior Jason Hittinger (Revere).

massmouth choice: Senior Jason Hittinger

Support from local cultural councils as administered by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the generous audiences of massmouth Greater Boston story slam series and a project grant from aMassHumaninites were all crucial to this season’s success.  More than 50% of the program funding came from local storytellers/educators through massmouth,inc -- a nonprofit storytelling organization.

  

With several other high schools already expressing interest, we look forward to expanding the program and can’t wait to hear the stories next year has in store!

For more pictures, check out our Facebook!