ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 27, 1997 TAG: 9703270008
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER THE ROANOKE TIMES
What began as a teaching tool has brought a Pulaski County teacher success as an author.
When Sherry Vaughn gets up to speak, the term "born storyteller" immediately comes to mind.
But the term is wrong, in her case, she says. "I had never heard of a storyteller until I was in my second year of teaching," she said. "And I have been a professional storyteller for 18 years."
Besides her own sixth-grade class at Dublin Middle School, she has been telling stories in recent weeks to youngsters at Christiansburg Elementary School and teachers in Wythe County.
She has also published her second book, "Grandpa's Eyes," the second volume of a planned trilogy combining folklore, fantasy and family values. Like her first book published a year ago, "Melvin's Melons," the new book contains elements of her own childhood.
Both books are published by Overmountain Press, and are available at local stores and the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley. Vaughn is at work on No. 3.
As a child, Vaughn became the eyes for her blind grandfather, describing her own activities and their surroundings, which probably contributed to her descriptive abilities today.
But it was early in her teaching career, when she had an unruly special education class of boys, that she attended a reading and storytelling conference at Radford University.
"I listened to them and I thought: I can do that," she recalled.
She began telling stories to her class as a reward when the pupils were on their good behavior. "It got to be a real good time for sharing, and eventually I got them involved" in telling stories of their own, she said.
"They were talking. They were using language to communicate with another human being," she said. "If they're entertained with language, they're not going to be afraid of it."
Vaughn told the Wythe teachers who are interested in storytelling as a teaching tool that story ideas are everywhere - in sources as diverse as the Bible to entertainer Jeff Foxworthy, from one's own life experiences, and "stories that you hear every time you go to a family gathering."
"My brother said he never realized that he would end up in a book. He's been very patient with me," Vaughn said.
"You are such a wealth of information. You can create your own stories and make them funny," she said. ``Not everyone liked Michelangelo's `David.' Not everyone listened to the Sermon on the Mount. But both are still masterpieces.''
She suggested keeping a journal, "especially if you're a teacher or a parent," to collect ideas for stories. "Give yourself permission to use your memories. After all, they belong to you. And I hate to tell you this - when you're gone, they're going to be gone" unless these memories have been cast in stories that others will go on telling, she said.
"The funniest stories are the ones that are true," she said. "You can change the details, you can embellish," depending on your audience. "Be committed to the truth of the story, but the facts can change," she advised. "Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story!"
She urged her listeners not to worry about their delivery. "You're there for the point you have to make," she said. "Your experiences are just as valuable as anybody else's experiences."
She admitted encountering people who insist that "nothing interesting is happening in my life," she said, "and I say that that's the coward's way out." Everything from your most embarrassing moment to family foibles have story possibilities.
"When you actually tell a story in some sort of a dramatic way, that's when it becomes alive," she said. "Storytelling is a connection between your heart and a child's heart. Storytelling is the kernel of all dramatic performances."
Vaughn has found that the writing and publishing some of her stories has disadvantages.
She does not believe in memorizing oral stories verbatim because, she said, "I never tell anything the same way twice." But now, people who have read her works will object when she departs from the way they are written. It is hard for them to understand that the stories are still flexible, she said.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. & 2. Sherry Vaughnby CNBdemonstrates storytelling techniques to her Dublin Middle School
sixth-grade class. color.