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When Sarah Harrell first walked into the Telling Room for a volunteer orientation, she felt that she had entered a supportive and creative community. "This sense infuses all of the Telling Room programs that I have participated in," she says, "within its walls and beyond. Education has always been a priority for me. I studied Classics in college and graduate school, earning a PhD and eventually working as a professor. After leaving academia, I returned to Maine, where I had lived as a teenager, and found other ways to pursue teaching and learning, as a volunteer with adult English Language Learners and at a therapeutic riding center. At the Telling Room, I have been privileged to interact with a diverse group of students as they develop skills of writing and storytelling, in all its forms. In these settings I have found myself again in the gratifying role of being a student with much to learn."
Kate (right) with TR student, Nargis Hassanzada
Kate Snyder discovered the Telling Room online when she was researching the Portland area in anticipation of her move here last fall from Washington, DC and began volunteering 4 weeks after she arrived in Maine. Over the past several months she has witnessed their mission come alive among students finding their voice while creating fiction, plays, personal memoirs, and comic books. It brings her joy to see such boundless imagination. A lover of far flung travel and hailing from a city as diverse as our nation's capitol, Kate especially appreciates working with students who have come from as far away as Somalia and Afghanistan to make Maine their new home. She loves their courage and their smiles. Kate studied Philosophy, Literature and Film in her university days after which she embarked on a decidedly nonlinear career path that included jobs in advertising, nonprofits, dog walking and bicycle messengering. She is now a full time mama and loving every sleepless minute of it.
Featured Volunteer - Spring 2011
Chad Frisbie studied English and Creative Writing at Bates College. Then he moved to Portland, thrilled to begin a yearlong internship at The Telling Room, where he now teaches, edits the Widgery Wharf blog publications, does office work, and devours many a roast beef sandwich. A poet at heart, Chad is always fascinated by words. He has made it his life's work to push both himself and others to learn as much as possible about what amazing things words can accomplish. Everything about the Telling Room inspires him--from its diversity of student writers to its constant flow of friendly volunteers to its powerhouse staff. He wouldn't have it any other way. In addition to writing and rewriting his poems, Chad writes the "That's My Dump" column for The Bollard. He also works for Telling Room co-founder Susan Conley on the promotion of her new memoir, The Foremost Good Fortune, published by Knopf.
Featured Volunteer - Fall/Winter 2011
Frank Martin is a recent graduate from USM. Hailing from a small town outside of Bangor, he decided to change his life by joining the Marine Corps when he was 24. Moving to Portland when he returned, he fully engaged himself in his studies at USM, finding a love for all writing. Unsure of what to expect when joining the Telling Room as a volunteer, he was quite overjoyed with the quality of programs that they offered to the younger students. When asked about the Telling Room, Frank responded, “After leaving the Marine Corps I lost a sense of purpose, by not being involved in something bigger than myself anymore. The Telling Room has given me back that sense of purpose and the opportunity to give back to something outside of myself. The kids that come through the program are great, filled with unique ideas, and their enthusiasm is an inspiration. I love every minute of it.”
Ashley Oliver is originally from the small Maine town of Baileyville, but now resides in Portland to attend USM. She is an English major also enrolled in the Elementary Teaching program and is set to graduate next spring. She absolutely loves every second of working with The Telling Room and the amazing students they bring in. Seeing such pure excitement about learning and about writing in particular makes her smile big and bright all day long after she's visited. Ashley says, "It is difficult to choose a favorite program that I have worked with at the TR, but the Writers Rock Out program in Westbrook wins out. Despite the unbearable summer heat and the short amount of time the kids had to create, they managed to pump out some of the craziest stories, poems, and pictures my eyes have ever come across! Go Westbrook Summer Lunch!"
In her spare time, Ashley enjoys hiking, relaxing with a great book, or baking goodies, but she loves baking shaped cakes best. She's made cows, bicycles, margaritas, guitars and everything in between. She hopes to bring all of the wonderful things she's learned from the Telling Room into her classroom one day. "Thank you!" she writes. "Watching the way the TR functions has been the best influence any aspiring teacher could ask for!"
Featured Volunteer - Winter/Spring 2010
Kate Bradbury adores collecting stories, and is always amazed at the different ways they can be told. Whether through putting her own pen to paper, a phone call to rehash events with old friends, letter writing, interviewing Rwandese mothers in front of their cook fires, crafting a grant proposal where the situational back story needs to be defined, snapping photographs of a family meal or new city, or while working as an ER nurse looking to better understand her patients, Kate relishes in the sharing and retelling that turn a chain of events into human experience. Kate recently returned to Maine and is very grateful to be volunteering with The Telling Room. She is humbled and inspired by the young writers that she has worked with, so full of raw observation, sensitive questioning, powerful detail, and humor. She finds the creative energy fostered by the TR staff and the response that it gets from even the most hesitant story teller to be marvelous, and can’t wait help out with the next project.
Cecily Pingree is a filmmaker, teacher, beekeeper, chicken-raiser and well-loved Telling Room Volunteer. She reigns from an island in the Penobscot Bay and always looks forward to her time spent volunteering with The Telling Room. It is an honor for her, she says, to work with our students, and she really enjoys the days when she can carve out time to join up with Telling Room programs. Whatever school we might be working with, regardless of the students’ backgrounds and experiences, it never ceases to amaze her how effective our teachers and volunteers are at working with students, kids, and young adults across the board. She is always reassured by humanity when the writing starts to happen and kids from all walks write incredible things about life, reality, home, love and family.
Janelle Dosher’s friends lovingly call her “paparazzi” because of her ever flashing camera bulb and passion for photography. This valued Telling Room Volunteer’s talents go far beyond photography, however. Janelle currently works at a small private elementary school in Portland with students who are struggling with literacy and mathematics. She also teaches science as part of an after school program, and volunteers at the Center for Grieving Children as a facilitator with their multicultural program. She recently received her teaching certification, and is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Teaching and Learning. Volunteering with young writers at The Telling Room has been, for her, an incredible and organic experience and an opportunity for her to gain the students’ perspective of the world. Interacting with the stories told, and even more importantly lived by the young writers at The Telling Room has enlightened her and opened her mind not only to the extraordinary experiences of which they tell, but also to the unique and beautiful heart and soul each author possesses.
Leska Tomash is a freelance writer and stellar Telling Room Volunteer. She finds it hard to say whether she gives or receives more when doing volunteer work with The Telling Room - it engages her in the community in a way that becomes less about 'doing' for others and more about being part of a greater project. She loves being involved and finds it amazing to watch a ten-year-old grapple with putting thoughts into words and to assist in some way, even if just quietly listening. And she thinks it's pretty cool to spend an hour with a Portland High School student from Sudan, mostly talking, but coming away with a few gem sentences that will rock your world. Leska recently finished up a freelance piece about food culture in various countries for the National Association for Specialty Food Trade and recently helped found a writing group with other Telling Room Volunteers.
To participate as a Telling Room volunteer, take a few minutes to fill out an application and allow us to get to know you.
Workshop Series
Come to the Telling Room writing center and help students get the most out of special weekend and evening workshops.
Tutoring at the Telling Room
Tutor students, one-on-one, at the Telling Room’s writing center.
Field Trips
Be a part of the excitement when groups of children come visit the writing center. Activities vary, along with age groups and interest.
Special Events/Readings
Join the buzz when the Telling Room hosts events, featuring our students and internationally renowned artists. Opportunities to help and be a part of these events run the gamut.
Office Work at the Telling Room
As the place where stories grow, our story is growing, too; we’d love help keeping shop. Tasks at the center include computer work, adding to our cache of creative writing tips and techniques, preparation for major events, stuffing envelopes—you name it.
