Brooks helping teens in Alaska tell stories
20 years ago, when Regan Brooks was in high school, a teacher gave them each an assignment — tell a story about yourself. Brooks can’t recall what she wrote about. What she really remembers is a story a classmate told.
“She shared a story in front of our whole class that,” Brooks pauses, thinking of the best explanation. “Abolished all my assumptions about her. And really made me realize there’s this person there haven’t ever bothered to get to know that I wanted to get to know more.”
Brooks says storytelling helps people see each other differently and through that new level of understanding, builds community.
So that’s the task she and a group of teachers and volunteers have given more than 700 students in Anchorage — tell your story. Brooks launched the project in February of 2014 and since then has visited five of the city’s high schools. She recently led a workshop at Service High in Anchorage.
