Featured story teller: Waleed Zaman

Hello, my name is Waleed Zaman and my major is IMC and I love to watch sports. I recently came back from Las Vegas and hit on a 6 team parlay bet. I like to bet on sports and I love to travel, something about me. I went to a Yankees game this summer and I plan to go to every stadium around the US.

Featured Storyteller: Anna McGhee

Hi, y'all! My name is Anna McGhee. I am a junior and an elementary education major at UNCW. This means that my dream is to become a teacher, and I am very excited to be performing with the storytellers this fall! The story I will tell is "Big Bad Wolf is Good", by Simon Puttock. This is a fun story from the perspective of the Big Bad Wolf and it may persuade you to believe differently about this classic villain.

Featured Storyteller: Molly Remillard

Hi everyone! My name is Molly Remillard. I am a senior Communication Studies major. Something interesting about me is I am from Southern New Hampshire (near Boston). I am also very comfortable in a classroom setting because my mom is a first grade teacher! I have also worked as a substitute teacher, camp counselor and nannied/babysat for the past six years. My love for working with children is what made me interested in the UNCW Storytellers, and I am so excited! I will be preforming a story titled "There Might Be Lobsters" by Carolyn Crimi. This tells a story of a Eleanor and her dog Sukie. It shows Sukie's thoughts and fears as a small dog on a big beach and how she can overcome her fear. This story is close to my heart because I grew up near the coast of New Hampshire and lobsters are a New England staple.

Featured Storyteller: Maria Ickes

Hello everyone!

My name is Maria Ickes, and I am a senior majoring in Nursing and Communication Studies. I am very excited to be a part of the UNCW Storytellers and to share the joys and excitement of performance and literature with everyone. Something interesting about me is that I finished part of my UNCW student career alongside my mom who wanted to become a teacher. She graduated from Watson College of Education in May. In my free time, I love surfing, singing, playing guitar, drawing, and gardening. I hope to be a NICU or Community Health Nurse when I graduate. This semester, I will be performing the story "Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Pena. The story follow a young boy who learns to appreciate the everyday beauties in life while on a bus ride with his Nana. I'm excited to share this touching story with you all!

Featured Storyteller: Kayla Joyce

Hi everyone! My name is Kayla Joyce, and I'm part of the UNCW Storytellers. I'm currently a junior majoring in Communication Studies. Something interesting about me is that I love to travel, and I've been out of the country! The story I will be performing is “The Stars Beckoned; Edwards White's Amazing Walk in Space” by Candy Wellins, which tells a story on Edward White and his journey of reaching his goal and finding what's truly important to him. I'm so excited to share this story with you all!

Featured Storyteller: Zachary Freedle

Hello, my name is Zachary Freedle and I am a senior in the Computer Science field at UNCW. I played soccer for most of my life and chose to perform Mia Hamm’s, “Quitters Never Win”, which is the story of her learning to never quit.

Featured Storyteller: Jordan Hernly

Hi! My name is Jordan Hernly and I am a senior Communication Studies major. This semester, I will be performing "How To Catch A Mermaid." This story teaches a lesson that you should treat others the way you would want to be treated and to be the bigger person. I am super excited to be performing at the elementary schools! Something interesting about me is that I do Architectural Designing for a custom home builder in Wilmington, NC. My dream is to have my own custom home building company in the future one day!

Featured Storyteller: Caden Ward

Hello everybody! My name is Caden Ward and I am a senior here at UNCW. I am a Communication Studies major and hope to work alongside a college or professional sports team after graduation. I love to travel and would like to do more of that in the future. The story I will be performing is called "The Day Roy Riegels Ran the Wrong Way" by Dan Gutman. This book tells the story of a football player that ran the wrong direction in a game and cost his team the win, only to realize that mistakes are not the end of the world.

Featured Storyteller: Travis Gardner

Hello everybody! My name is Travis Gardner. I am a Communication major at UNCW. One interesting fact about me is that I once met Murr from the popular TV show, Impractical Jokers. The story I will be performing is called “This is Not My Hat” by Jon Klassen.

Featured Storyteller: Jack Cunneen

Hi everyone! My name is Jack Cunneen. I am a junior and I am majoring in communications. I love to surf and I am a private surf instructor for Sean's Private Surf Instruction. The story that I will be preforming is called, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen.

Featured Storyteller: Callie Hill

Hi! I am Callie Hill and I am a senior studying Communication at UNCW. I have a twin brother who also attends UNCW and I grew up here in Wilmington! The two stories I will be sharing over the course of the semester will be "Dragons Love Tacos" by Adam Rubin, and "Monster Trouble!" by Lane Fredrickson. I am so excited to share these stories with elementary students!

Featured Storyteller: Makenzie Shane

Hello!

My name is Makenzie Shane and I am a sophomore. I am majoring in Communication Studies and am hopeful to pursue a career in public relations. Something interesting about me is that my sister and I are both actively students at the same college (UNCW). I love playing tennis, paddle boarding, riding horses, swimming, and just hanging in coffee shops with friends.

The story I would like to tell is "ZOG"  by Julia Donaldson. The story outlines a young dragon eager to be successful in dragon school. Along the way, his efforts seem to come up short again and again as he continues to need the help of a caring princess. When the princess becomes the one in need instead of the the one fulfilling needs, Zog the dragon is the one to come to her rescue. This story resonates with me because it teaches that not every success comes from being the "best". Zog wasn't the best student in his class, but that didn't make him any less valuable than the others.

Featured Storyteller: Danny Alexander

Hi, my name is Danny Alexander, and I am a senior Communication Studies major. This is my third semester with the UNCW Storytellers, and I cannot wait for the opportunity to share some amazing stories with you! This also my first semester as an Assistant Director, which I couldn't be more excited for! This semester I will be performing "The Paper Bag Princess" by Robert Munsch, and “How I Became a Pirate” by Melinda Long. I’m so thrilled for some of you to experience these stories for the first time!

In my free time I enjoy hanging out with my friends, watching all different genres of movies, collecting music, and going to the beach.

Have an amazing week everyone!

Just Us; My Perfect Family

Hey! I am Lizzy Tart and I am sharing my story, “My Perfect Family” as a member of Act 1. My performance highlights the journey of belonging and adaptation when things don’t quite work out the way you thought they would.

Our Act, “The Complexities of Family and Belonging”, is released at 2 p.m. TODAY as Act 1 of the “Just Us” show. Tune in, you don’t want to miss it! You can find the show on all of our social media platforms!

The Complexities of Family and Belonging

“The Complexities of Family and Belonging” is the 1st Act of the Just Us show. These stories will be told by Riley Dodson, Nathan Pelt, Lizzy Tart, and Camille Alexandre.

The storytellers will share about experiences within themselves and their families that shaped them. The act of the show will be release this Tuesday, 4/13, at 2 p.m. on all of UNCW performance studies social medias.

Just Us: On the Bodies We're In

“On the Bodies We’re In” os act 2 of the Just Us show. These powerful stories are told by Kennedy Lee, Heather Cunningham, and Matt Cara

The storytellers share their experiences living in their own bodies, from dealing with chronic illnesses to understanding their heritage. This act of the show will be released on our social media accounts at 2:30 pm on Tuesday 4/13. You won’t want to miss this!

The Complexities of Family and Belonging: My Perfect Family

When things take a turn for Lizzy and her new best friend, they figure out together how to adapt to this new place in each others lives. Tune in on Tuesday, April 13th at 2 pm to learn how at age 14, Lizzy’s new friend changed her life forever. Lizzy is the third performer in Act 1 of “Just Us”. Act 1 is called “The Complexities of Family and Belonging” and will highlight three courageous and telling stories of the journey to finding your place. You won't want to miss this one! Mark your calendars, April 13th at 2 pm!

Just Us: The Complexities of Family and Belonging

With just under a week until our debut, all of the COM-211 students are so excited to announce the release of our act. Group members, Nathan Pelt, Riley Dodson, Camille Alexandre, and Lizzy Tart make up the first act of “Just Us”. Act number one entitled, “The Complexities of Family and Belonging” is one that will surely pull on audience heartstrings and teach what it means to maneuvor through life when things get a little complex. Be sure to check in at 2pm on April 13th to catch us telling stories of the lives we live and our journeys with belonging.

WELCOME TO COM-211

Storytelling and Culture, COM-211 is excited to be in person with Professor Scott-Pollock. We are kicking off the semester in a great way, we are doing infographics to better understand storytelling, as well as beginning the process of producing our own auto-ethnographies. Please stay tuned this semester and see our stories come to life in front of the camera!

2020 Storytellers Performance Highlights

Included below are pictures from our zoom performances from the 2020 UNCW Storytellers.