Stories
Everything you need to know about Storycatchers.
Welcome to our blog. Our newsfeed. Our point of view on everything that’s important to what we do. Scroll through find something that interests you.
Thanks for your interest in our youth.
A Memo to Mayor Lightfoot
Mayor Lightfoot sent out a city-wide request for feedback about how to improve Chicago’s education system. Our young adults in Changing Voices, all of whom who have been through the public school system, wrote this memo about what her priorities should be.
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About our Musical Week with Samora Pinderhughes
He sat in the middle of the rehearsal room behind a 76-key keyboard. He’s not a big guy, so he was mostly covered up by the keyboard, its speaker, and the snapback on his head sporting the words ‘Peace King.’ “Can I play a song for you?”
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Skills for Chicagoland’s Future
Introducing a new partner and a new program to provide our Changing Voices youth with the job readiness and future planning skills they need to succeed.
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Introducing Edmund Buck!
We're thrilled to welcome alumnus Edmund Buck to our Board of Directors! When asked why he joined the Board, Edmund responded, "Learning of an opportunity for me to join the Board of Directors of Storycatchers Theatre filled me with great pride and joy. I am an...
read moreA Note From Cheri
January 15, 2019. It’s Tina’s first session with us. She is a 17-year-old Latina girl, with long hair with raspberry-colored streaks. She is quiet, respectful, pale, somber. She looks like she hasn’t slept in days. On her first Inside/Outside sheet, she writes that...
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3 Panels in 6 Days: Youth on the Mic
Storycatchers is in the community in a big way this week. Victory Gardens. The Holocaust Museum. At a board member’s residence. Learn what our staff and youth are doing to inspire and create real change.
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Finding the Light in Your Darkness
Read about the success of the Changing Voices Ensemble’s first performance of their original show, “The Light in My Darkness.” Program Manager Cristina White shares how the youth have inspired her to make changes in her own life.
read moreCourt-Involved Youth Premiere Play at New Arts Space [Press Release]
Light in My Darkness will be presented as a staged reading of works-in-progress at the new Washington Park arts space Green Line Performing Arts Center. Green Line is a much-needed $5.5 million professional theater on Chicago’s South Side.
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The Lives You May Not Know
On a cold January evening, about fifty people and two Storycatcher’s teaching artists converged in the middle of Chicago’s American Writer’s Museum on Michigan Avenue. Audience members and experts had a conversation on the impact of performing arts programming in prisons.
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Holiday Stories From Our Youth
2019 is off to an energetic start for Changing Voices! Our youth returned from a two week break focused and ready to work. During their time off, they wrote letters and stories about their loved ones and hopes for the new year. Enjoy their words. From...
read moreSarge’s Story – An Ensemble Doesn’t Forget
A moving five minute must-read that will help you understand how giving youth a voice through stories is powerful, lasting and necessary.
read moreWhat you need to know about #storyboxchicago.
Did you miss it? Did you miss the 60 people coming together to dance, sing, paint, write, tell stories, read books, and build Chicago’s first Storybox. It will be one of many. View our photos and video to see what the excitement was all about.
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4 Great Reasons You’ll Love Our New Website
“I am my own story.” The number one rule of marketing is “It’s not about the company, it’s about the customer.” In this case, the customer is you (the reader) and our youth. Simply put, we think we’ve designed a website that makes it easier for you experience how...
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What You Missed in Austin
On August 26th, the new Changing Voices ensemble at the Austin Career Education Center had their first staged reading after months of writing their personal stories. If you were there, you'd understand why it was one of my favorite experiences as a teaching artist....
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The Way of Peace: Congressman John Lewis’ Unforgettable Visit
by Cheryl Coons, Program Manager of the Temporary Lockdown Ensemble “No one has forgotten you. There is reason to hope, and you guys give me hope.” Those are the words that the legendary civil rights activist Congressman John Lewis spoke to our Temporary LockDown...
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Ira Glass and Storycatchers Find Social Impact Through Art
By Jacob Clinkscales, Storycatchers Teaching Artist “Stories have the power to create empathy within us, and over time, people begin to see the world through the eyes of the ones they have opposed.” In June, Storycatchers teaching artists, myself included, performed...
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Trading T-shirts for Dress Shirts: Deloitte Mentors Changing Voices Youth
by Tory Davidson, Community Engagement Manager It’s not every day that the Changing Voices team is clad in polished shoes and button-down shirts, welcomed into a skyscraper in downtown Chicago, and given the run of the place. In June, Deloitte let us do exactly that....
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Steppenwolf Brings Show to Youth Inside Three Juvenile Justice Facilities
An interview with Kari Betton, Music Director and Composer, Storycatchers Theatre Conducted by Tory Davidson, Community Engagement Manager, Storycatchers Theatre In March, Steppenwolf Theatre's young adult production of The Burn toured to the juvenile justice...
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