Resume

Professional Storyteller for Children,
1986-present:

  • For descriptions of storytelling in the schools, visit School Programs.
  • 250+ stories from the oral tradition including folk tales, fairy tales, myths, fables and true stories that reflect the diversity of more than twenty Bay Area public, private and Catholic schools from pre-school through college
  • Awarded many year-long residencies by public, private and parochial schools (children of 18 months to 14 years old). Examples:
    • Notre Dame Des Victoires Elementary School, 1990-2019
    • St Tomas More School, 2003-2019
    • Sunset Cooperative Nursery School, 1990-present
    • Meadows Elementary School (Millbrae), 25 years
    • Francis Scott Key Elementary, 17 years
    • Early Childhood Education Center, SF State University, 14 years
    • Glide Memorial After Care, 3 years
    • AP Giannini Middle School, 12 years (Mentor to Student Traveling Storytelling Troupe, 1995-2000)
    • Residencies in San Francisco Schools, 1986-2000: A.P. Giannini Middle School, Bessie Carmichael Elementary, Claire Lilienthal Elementary, Clarendon Elementary, Commodore Sloat Elementary, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Francis Scott Key Elementary, Golden Gate Elementary, Holy Name Elementary, Japanese Bilingual School, Jefferson Elementary, John Sweet Alternative School, Jose Ortega Elementary, Lakeshore Alternative Elementary, Longfellow Elementary, Lowell High School, McKinley Elementary, New Traditions Alternative School, Rooftop Elementary, San Francisco Day School, St. Brendons, St. Brigids, Starr King Elementary, Stuart Hall School for Boys, Sutro Elementary, Telegraph Hill Cooperatie Nursery School, Ulloa Elementary, West Portal Elementary, Meadows Elementary (Millbrae)
  • Offers performances and programs on site five days a week during the school year
  • Developed lesson plans in collaboration with administrators and teachers from needs assessment to implementation of integrated literacy programs in schools that represent the socio-economic diversity of San Francisco in compliance with State of California Standards for literary arts
  • Teach children to become performing storytellers
  • Create original fairy tales through improvisation with students who then illustrate and bind the story into a book
  • Select and share stories to enhance grade level curricula in language arts, social studies, ethics and science

 

Performing Artist, Consultant and Teacher
with and for Adults, 1989-present:

Performances on site, on air, and at festivals, meetings, annual retreats and seminars. Examples: 

  • Motherlode Concert with Charity Kahn, “Songs and Stories from the Vein”, 2007, 2008, 2016 (A Mother's Day Concert)
  • Rekindling the Sacred Imagination: A Preaching Symposium, Bishops Ranch. 2015 (The Creative Spark: A Storyteller’s Experience)
  • Grace Cathedral Christmas Day Family Service, 2013 and 2014
  • Early Childhood Development Masters Program, San Francisco State University, 2009-2013
  • South Bay Stand Down for Homeless Veterans, 2009 and 2011
  • Kaiser Permanente Mended Hearts Support Group, 2010
  • Bay Area Storytelling Festival Showcase Teller, 2008
  • Freshman Composition Class, San Francisco State University, 2005-2008
  • University of California Department of Surgery, 2003-2008
  • Redwoods Retirement Community, Mill Valley, 2005
  • KWMR Public Radio, 2007
  • American Association of Critical Care Nurses Association Conference, 2001 (A Fairy Tale through Critical Care)
  • Other associations and colleges including the California Association of Teachers of English, Seattle Storytelling Association, Indiana University. 

Workshops as a Consultant and Teacher. Examples: 

  • Parent Education, Sunset Cooperative Nursery School, 1990-present
  • San Francisco Village, Non-Profit Organization for Independent Seniors, 2016 and 2017
  • Staff Development and Family Education, Early Childhood Education Center, San Francisco State University, 2003-2017
  • Coffee Catz, Sabastapol, CA 2016 (Storytelling in Action with weaver Silvia Schroeder)
  • Staff Development and Family Education, Early Childhood Education Center, San Francisco State University, 2003-2017
  • Bay Area Therapeutic Recreational Association (BATRA), 2013 (Join Your Clients on a Magical Quest: Storytelling Meets Recreational Therapy)
  • WholeFamily Medicine, 2010
  • St. Aiden's Episcopal Church, 2008 (Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Oral Tradition and Self Image)
  • Masters of Science and Accounting Program, San Jose State, 2008
  • University of California Chaplain’s Training, 2004
  • International Women’s Writer’s Guild, Skidmore College, 1989-2004 (The Storytelling Writer/The Writing Storyteller)
  • International Women’s Writer’s Guild, Santa Cruz, 2003 (Mirror Mirror on the Wall: Memoir as Fairy Tale)
  • Holter Museum of Art, Helena, Montana, 2003 (Active Storytelling Techniques)
  • Women on Writing Conference, Skyline College, 2003-2004 (Storytelling as a Healing Art)
  • Greater Valley Writing Project, Columbia College, 2000 (Storytelling in your Classroom)
  • California Association of Teachers of English 41st Annual Convention, 2000 (The Oral Tradition: A Doorway to Common Ground)
  • SAFE START, Bay Area Center for Training in Early Childhood Violence Intervention and Counseling, 1997
  • Northstate Reading Conference, 1995

 

Formal Education

BA in Women’s Studies; Goucher College 1976

Adult Education Credential; San Francisco State University 1982

 

Existential Education

Elder Training; It Takes a Village to Raise a Child, 2012-2015:

  • Became a Mother-in-Law (all three children married)
  • Transformation to Grandmother (two step-grandchildren and eight babies born in three years, including two sets of twins)

 

Continuing Education

International Symposium: Storytelling as a Healing Art; Jarna, Sweden 2005

Wisdom of the Elders: Traditional Healing Practices in Mexico; Goddard College Travel Study; Morales, Mexico 2007

 

Storytelling CDs

Imagine the Brave with Olive, 2008

Imagine your Way Home with Olive, 2006

 

Volunteer Work

Eucharistic Minister, Saint John of God Church/UCSF, 2001-2011

Bread and Roses

Storytelling in Homeless Shelters, Halfway Houses, and YMCA children’s programs

 

Publications 

The Fairy Tale of Critical Care” in “Words on the Wing”: Issue 7, Publication of The Healing Alliance

A Storyteller’s Parablein Storyline Magazine

 

Personal Essays

 Storytelling Meets Recreation Therapy

 Storytelling as Face Time

 Storytelling as Medicine

 The Fairy Tale of Critical Care

 A Storyteller’s Parable

  

Previous Teaching Experience

Adult Education Teacher/English as a Second Language, 1980-1986