We just finished conducting a workshop at the University of Colorado with the International Association of Forensic Nurses. Known worldwide for its focus on caring and reflective practice, Sue Hagedorn and Vicki Erickson from the University, in conjunction with recruitment from IAFN, brought together nurses from around the country for the workshops. The workshops were facilitated by Daniel Weinshenker and Mary Ann McNair from the Center for Digital Storytelling. This was the third workshop in a three-part series to be run at the University of Colorado Anschutz Center. Future workshops will focus on interdisciplinary stories (nurses and doctors, doctors and patients). This project focused on how certain patients affected the storyteller’s identity as a nurse, or changed their practice, and sometimes how experiences from their life outside of nursing affected the way they think about caring.

In January, 2010, we went up to Edwards, CO for the second time to work with The Youth Foundation and the Guardian Scholars program to help former foster youth and children of undocumented migrant workers tell and share their stories. The Youth Foundation provides and supports programs that serve economically disadvantaged youth from pre-school through college. The common theme in all of the Youth Foundation’s efforts is jumping in to not only keep kids from “falling through the cracks,” but lift them up through education, sports and opportunities that promote character development…like digital storytelling. Some of the youth they work with receive full ride scholarships to go to college from the Guardian Scholars program. These are the people we had the chance to spend the weekend with.

Here are their stories.

Tomorrow (Aug 6th), a few of the stories we’ve done with women from the
Women’s Bean Project will be on Colorado Public Radio!

They’ll have Pam Free on Morning Edition at about 6:30 and 8:30; Lori Griffing on Colorado Matters, at about 10:25 and again on the evening  show at 7:25 and then Lisa Germany on All Things Considered at 5:30.

Listen up!!!

PS – If you want to watch the full digital stories with video, you can do so here.

PPS – Or you can listen to how they sounded on CPR here:

Lisa Germany

Lori Griffing

Pam Free

Just wanted to let everyone know that the senior citizen stories from Windcrest (a retirement community in South Denver) are up here.  These stories are a great way to think about doing oral histories with the senior population.  We worked one-on-one with residents at Windcrest to put together these stories and document experiences they’ve had that they wanted to share.

This workshop was funded by Retirement Living TV and was the second workshop in a series of workshops of this kind. The first workshop was led by students from UMBC (Univ of Maryland Baltimore County) in a service learning initiative where new media students went into a local retirement community to work with seniors.  Those stories won a Telly Award and can be found here.

Digital storytelling was profiled in the Denver Post this weekend.

Although it’s just a snippet, we appreciate the exposure.

Bring on the New York Times, if it’s still around….