In the summer of 2019, Tell Us Something hosted a storytelling summer camp for youth at Zootown Arts Community Center. Seven young women worked together with Tell Us Something director Marc Moss for a week during the summer of 2019 to learn about how to decide what story to share, stage presence, story structure, elements of a story, keeping ourselves, our audience, and the characters in a story safe as well as making an emotional connection with the audience.

This episode of the Tell Us Something podcast was recorded in front of a live audience on August 9, 2019 at Zootown Arts Community Center in Missoula, MT. 7 storytellers shared their true personal story that they developed with me over the course of a weeklong summer camp for youth at The ZACC.

Izzy Slaughter, is our first storyteller, accompanies her competitive jump rope team, the Montana Super Skippers, to the national championships in Disney World, and gives us a peak behind the scenes of a chaotic competition. Her story is called “Jump for Joy”.

Izzy Slaughter was born and raised in Missoula, Montana and is a competitive jump roper. She enjoys eating Big Dipper ice cream, skiing at Snowbowl, crafting and being outdoors.

Ellie Althauser-Vlad’s best friend disappeared unexpectedly and when she returns, Ellie discovers why, offering her support and continued friendship. Her story is called “The Starbucks Cup”.

Watch Ellie’s story.

Ellie Althauser-Vlad was born in Missoula and is an inclusive, open-minded goofy 8th grader at Washington Middle School, except for when her she-demon sister is around. She lives with her parents, sister, cat and dog. If Ellie were an ice cream flavor, she would most definitely be yellow cake, and only from the Big Dipper, of course.

Si Thompson visits La Paz, Mexico and gets up close and personal with a whale shark, one of the largest animals on the planet. We call her story “Snorkeling with a Whale Shark”.

Watch Si’s story.

Si Thompson has lived in Missoula, MT most of her life. She enjoys the arts and crafts, and the outdoors, mostly skiing and swimming. She loves animals — all of them.

Annie Smith loves helping her mom make fudge, and when she has eaten her quota, she retreats to her room, only to sneak out again, and raid the fudge crumbs when her mother isn’t looking. We call her story “Fudge Crumbs on the Sly”.

Watch Annie’s story.

Annie Smith was born and raised in Missoula, Montana and enjoys reading, crafting, traveling, playing sports, playing the violin and piano and being outside. Especially in the water.

Wynter Bradley goes camping with her siblings, father and uncle in the wilds of Montana. She tests the boundaries she was given and strays beyond the sightline of the adults. Listen to her adventure of being lost in the wilderness in a story we call “Lost and Found”.

Watch Wynter’s story.

Wynter Bradley is going into 8th grade. She likes to travel, sing, dance and write. She also really likes gyros and fries.

Hannah Lunde visits Disneyland with her parents and discovers the Guardians of the Galaxy ride is not what they expected. We call this story “Disneyland Dropdown”.

Watch Hannah’s story.

Hannah Lunde is a happy girl going into 7th grade. She loves dance and gymnastics. If she were an animal, she would be a goat.

Our final story comes to us from Gwyneth Puryear, who decides to take AP Chemistry. She takes us on the journey of humor and anxiety that is the final exam. We call her story “Shooting for a 3”.

Watch Gwyneth’s story.

Gwyneth Puryear recently moved to Missoula from England. She’s going to be a junior in high school and loves to perform. She spends her time reading, writing and singing along to her favorite musicals.