Submitted by: Judi Sammons

RUTHMARY.....What a positive force of energy, filled with fun and joy. We have the benefit of Ruthmary's gifts at each of our monthly workshops and we are filled with gratitude. She lifts our spirits up and entertains us with her magical songs and fun antics. You never know what she will come up with next but it is always fun!! Ruthmary is a unique Renaissance woman who has an endless supply of creativity and enthusiasm....what a GIFT.

She is multi-talented and multi-faceted. She has a miraculous talent for teaching, loves to sing and play a variety of instruments and can captivate and engage her audience into participating by exuding incredible energy, enthusiasm and surprise. She has traveled to many places and continents on this planet including Europe, South America, Canada and of course the United States...just to name a few example of where she has wandered: Guernsey, Germany, England, Luxembourg, Holland, France, Argentina, Brazil, Hawaii, Texas, Washington D.C....etc...etc.

She is a natural teacher and in fact that was her profession for 30 years...teaching elementary children from Kindergarten through Fifth grade. How lucky for them!! Shortly after retirement she found out about Spellbinders through the Friends of the Library newsletter when the first chapter was organized and, as they say, "The Rest of the story is history!"

Ruthmary loves to tell Folk and Fairy tales, as well as, stories from different cultures. Her three favorite stories to tell are Goldilocks and the Three Bears, How the Elephant Got His Trunk and The Tinder Box. She Tells to Kindergarten, First, Third and Fifth graders. She says, "This is my Kid Fix. I love the contact with the kids. It makes my life complete because I love being a teacher," ....and, we believe it. Ruthmary comes to each Telling anew and tries to enjoy each experience with the kids as if it were the first time.

The wisdom Ruthmary would like to share with her fellow tellers is this: "Have Fun! Be ready to laugh at yourself. Life is not a rehearsal but stories go better with some practice. Come to the workshops and laugh with your fellow tellers."

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Volunteer Forms:  This form needs to be completed for EACH school you are assigned to.  You also need to list EVERY teacher you will be working with at each school.  These forms will be available at September's workshop as well as at the school offices.  As a reminder you must fill one of these out if you tell at a Special Event at a school you are not regularly assigned to.  

If you need to contact Janice Hogue about volunteer assignments you can click on her name above and your email program will launch.  It would be a good idea to also put her in your address book:

jinglejanow@aol.com

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Janice Shepherd is our new keeper of statistics!  She discussed the reasons we need to keep accurate records.  This information is valuable for grant applications, encouraging new tellers, and encouraging new schools to invite Spellbinders to their classrooms.   

Janice will share an updated Excel spreadsheet if you email her by clicking on her name above.  Also, it would be great if you added her email to your address book:  a.and.j.shepherd@gmail.com

You can also give her your information via email.  She needs the following information for each time you tell:

Date, School, Teacher(s), grade(s), # of children.  Also remember to include special events and other venues in your statistics.  The time period for current reporting is June1, 2011 through May 31, 2012  

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Spellbinder's Updated Standards and Guidelines Commitment 

If you missed the meeting, you will need to get this form from Ruthmary at a future workshop.  This form needs to be signed by all Spellbinders.  I do not have the PDF file for this to attach, but perhaps I will be able to get this for a future newsletter.  Ruthmary will have these forms available at the next workshop.

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School District Spellbinder Evaluation Form

Ruthmary also shared the form that the school district provides to teachers at the end of each school year in order to evaluate the effectiveness of Spellbinders in the classroom.  Ruthmary will also have additional copies of these at future workshops for you.   

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Sign up to tell a story and/or bring treats! 

The signup sheet to tell stories and bring refreshments was passed around.  If you missed the workshop and want to volunteer to tell a story one month and/or bring treats one month contact Ruthmary Allison.  

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Next Spellbinder Training in September!!  

The next storyteller training will take place on September 6, 9, 13, & 16; 9:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  Trainees must attend all sessions.  If you know someone who is interested in becoming a Spellbinder contact  Ruthmary Allison.