by Pamela Cotant | Wisconsin State Journal | April 26, 2016 |

Orchard Ridge Elementary School students and parents took part in a yearlong project to give people a voice and build community through storytelling.

“Telling Stories II — Building Community” was a collaboration between staff at the West Side school and Madison School and Community Recreation through its Afterschool Academic Center for Excellence and Meadowood Neighborhood Center programs. It was an expansion of something Anne Fraioli, Orchard Ridge music teacher and MSCR program leader, did in the past.

Fraioli wrote grants and developed the program so students and adult family members would share and create stories that reflect the diverse cultural heritage, languages and traditions within the Orchard Ridge community. Some of the storytelling involved song.

One of the many facets of the program was a series of dinner workshops for parents. At one workshop, Dasha Kelly, a spoken-word artist and author from Milwaukee, guided the diverse group of parents…continue reading>>