Friday, June 22, 2007

"Andrea lovett is brilliant and marvelously playful. Her enthusiasm sweeps up an sudience and leavs it full of delight. She us a soaring star." Jay O'Callahan, Master Storyteller

 "Thank you for comng to our school today. You did an outstanding job. The children absolutely loved it." Deborah St. Oves Principal William Seach School, Weymouth,Mass

"Andrea, I just wanted to tell you that you received rave reviews from one of our veteran teachers this morning about your teaching. We've been very impressed with the quality of instruction , your energy and your investment in our kids." Julie Bott, director of enrichment programs gardner School, Allston



Hi Andrea,
What an engaging morning!  Thank you so much for your vitality, storytelling and interactive games.  I loved watching everyone laughing and joining in...and  that includes not only the children but adults!You clearly love your work. Thank you for sharing today!
Have a wonderful weekend,
- - Gail Young Audiences Agency
This one for adult performance
Adult Venue

Hi folks,
I want to give a HUGE shout-out to Andrea Lovett who was absolutely amazing last night. She has the audience rolling in the aisles with here Stories from the Table. It was such a treat to hear her and so many folks were raving about her performance as the evening ended. Karen Chace Host of Story CafĂ© , New Bedford


"The kids LOVED you!! They were talking about the show and "doodle wopping" the rest of the day. Thanx for the great Show",Pam , Teacher Weymouth

Letter from Citizens Schools
names of students have been deleted to ensure privacy to individuals mentioned

Dear Norah, Andrea, and Doria

First, thank you so much for the great photos of the event on Monday. I was so sad that I could not be there to see the WOW; I heard from Ms. Greenbaum that it was fantastic (especially Sarah getting up to tell her story at the last minute!) I know that the group story for the WOW on Wednesday was a huge hit. My morning supervisor from our headquarters came and was thrilled (she especially thought ***** was good).

I wanted to take a minute to really thank you for the quality apprenticeship which you delivered this semester. When I hoped in August to get a storytelling apprenticeship to the Gavin, I really couldn’t have imagined that everything would turn out so well. As your TL support, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, mostly because of how fun the sessions always were and because of the high level of investment that you all made in our kids. Your tireless efforts with the group, and especially with some of our most withdrawn kids, have paid off in all aspects of our program. The biggest changes I’ve observed are in ****, ****, and ****. They are both less shy, more willing to speak up. Sarah has taken positive risks in circle and in class. **** has become willing to try things which he would have refused point-blank before and his relationship with all the adults in the program has improved. **** has gone from being a quiet leader on our campus to a vocal leader. I think ***** has been bitten by the performance bug because he’s asking us to make sure there are performing or public speaking apprenticeships next semester. ***** memorized her entire script for her other WOW with Goldman Sachs and was the most natural public speaker in the group. Because of the group-oriented focus of our program, this would never have happened if it weren’t for the three of you, and I am amazed and thankful.

You all three are such excellent educators and it was obvious in the excitement of the students around your apprenticeship. You had them hooked from the beginning, from the moment Andrea included their names in her story of kitchen hands to the group’s creation of South Dorpattabury to your taking the time to customize the covers of their CDs with the pictures of their stories that they had drawn. Middle schoolers love to talk about how much they hate *everything*… but after the first session I never heard them say negative things about going to storytelling, even when they were struggling through the day (as happens so often when you are 12 or 13). Seeing the students’ reaction when they listened to themselves recorded telling their stories was priceless. The individual attention that each of you was able to give them was great and I could see that all the students appreciated the intimacy of the communication through the journals every week. **** (taking her cue from you, I’m sure) has taken to writing me letters when she wants to tell me something and it’s hard because of the group setting. This is just one more indication of how your work with the students has gone way beyond the bounds of the ordinary apprenticeship.

I know we had spoken at the WOW about the possibility of your continuing your work with some of our students, tightening up their stories and taking them on tour. I’ve mentioned it off-hand to a few of the students you named and they seem excited. If this is something you’d like to pursue, I know Brent, Chris and I would be happy to support you in whatever way we can. Also, if you’d ever think you’d like to work with our students again, or if anyone you know might want to work with some awesome kids, we would be thrilled.

On a personal note, I feel that I’ve received a real education about storytelling this semester and look forward to staying involved and supporting LANES by attending your events. I really enjoyed the Three Apples festival and the Halloween Spooky Stories night in Davis Square. Please let me know about your performances in the future!

Thank you so much again for your dedication to our students.

All the best,
Cat



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