Claire Burnham has a pretty amazing story to tell, one Claire and her family won’t soon forget.
On this episode of the Supercast, meet the Bingham High School sophomore who is one of only 10 students in the nation selected to be a National Youth Storyteller at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. To make her story even more incredible, Claire was the opening act for professional storytellers, including the King of Storytelling, Master Storyteller Donald Davis.
Audio Transcription
Anthony Godfrey:
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Claire Burnham has a pretty amazing story to tell, one Claire and her family won't soon forget. On this episode of the Supercast, meet the Bingham High School sophomore, who is one of only 10 students in the nation selected to be a national youth storyteller at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. To make her story even more incredible, Claire was the opening act for professional storytellers at the festival, including the King of Storytelling, Master storyteller Donald Davis. Find out how Claire's love of storytelling began and how her talent blossomed thanks to one teacher in elementary school.
We're talking today with Claire Burnham, a sophomore at Bingham High School, and a champion storyteller. Thanks for talking with me today.
Claire Burnham:
Thank you for having me. This is very exciting.
Anthony Godfrey:
So, for me too. So tell me, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, that's where you most recently performed, is that right?
Claire Burnham:
Yes, it is.
Anthony Godfrey:
And I think a lot of people may not understand that storytelling is actually a competitive event. Is that right?
Claire Burnham:
Very.
Anthony Godfrey:
Tell me a bit about how that works, first of all, and then let's talk about how you got into it.
Claire Burnham:
Well, the competitiveness for the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, I don't know the total number of youth in the country who did submit their audition tapes, but only 10 in the country were selected. So it was the best youth story tellers that they could possibly find. Which was very stressful when recording, knowing that this is me going up against some of the best of the best. But while we were there just before the festival and at the festival, there was no competitiveness between the 10 of us because we were just so excited to be there with people sharing similar passions and similar personalities. We had so much fun with each other and we just couldn't believe that we were with so many other talented people.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me about some of those other talented people. There were 10 chosen from across the country. Where were some of them from?
Claire Burnham:
There were three from Texas. There was one from Florida and there was one from Arizona.
Anthony Godfrey:
Ah, interesting. So are there storytelling hotbeds in the country, like where there's a greater emphasis on it and you find more competition, or is it pretty much spread throughout the country?
Claire Burnham:
There is definitely a lot of concentration in the south. There are a lot of deep storytelling roots there. I believe the Appalachian, the Appalachian area. It's definitely where a sort of storytelling renaissance happened.
Anthony Godfrey:
Okay, so I would imagine that hanging out with nine other storytellers, there can be some really good conversations.
Claire Burnham:
Very long, in depth conversations, there were.
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Without interrupting each other, because once you get on a story, you gotta let them get right to the end.
Claire Burnham:
Exactly. One of the starkest contrasts that I saw from before and after the storytelling festival was my conversations with my friends who are not storytellers. Because at the festival we would talk and we'd have a conversation. One of us would go on a tangent and tell a story, and then, so we would all listen and then we'd, one would be like, ‘Oh, that reminds me of this.’ And then she would tell a story and we would just tell stories and have long conversations. But when I got back I was like, ‘Why do all my friends give such short responses? I'm sure there was more to your experience in that. Tell me.’ They're like, ‘What are you doing, Claire?’
Anthony Godfrey:
So you get used to a deep level of detail that not all of your friends can provide.
Claire Burnham:
Definitely.
Anthony Godfrey:
And a narrative arc to the story as well.
Claire Burnham:
Most of the time. Other times we just, because we were from different states, a lot of the things we talked about were how different things were in different states. Part of it was the climate, the girl from Florida, she went hiking and she was like, ‘Why is the air so thin here?’ We're like, ‘You good?’
Anthony Godfrey:
Yeah. Because we don't have humidity like she does.
Claire Burnham:
Exactly.
Anthony Godfrey:
And we're higher than she is.
Claire Burnham:
Yes. The people from Texas, they were definitely like, ‘It is extremely dry here. This is the seventh time I have put on Chapstick today.’
Anthony Godfrey:
That's fun. So tell me more about the festival itself. What did you perform at the festival?
Claire Burnham:
I performed my original story called the Joys of Apples. So all of the storytellers, we each had one story. The youth tellers each had one story. And on Friday and Saturday mornings, we would go and there were about five or so tents. And so about half of the storytellers, they would go and perform their stories in the tents, and they would open for the professional storytellers. There were about 12 of the professionals. So we got to interact with them a little bit. So we would tell our stories and then the professionals would tell their stories. And then we would basically just have the rest of the day to go around the rest of the festival and listen to more of the stories. Because the professionals, they each had many, many stories because they were performing many times. And so sometimes you had to pick and choose like, ‘Oh, I really want to go see Donald Davis. But man, Tim Lowry is so good.’ And you there was equal opportunity to still see all the storytellers you wanted to. With the Youth Tellers, it was a little harder to schedule seeing them cuz some of us were performing at the same time, but we still got the chance to hear everyone's amazing stories.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now I understand that you got to open for someone who's very well known in the storytelling world. Tell me about him.
Claire Burnham:
Yes, Donald Davis. Donald Davis is considered to be a sort of king of storytelling. I mentioned the renaissance of storytelling of sorts, in the Appalachians. And he was one of the main people, if not the main person who helped initiate that renaissance. So he is a masterful storyteller. He has an amazing southern accent and he's quite old. So he will tell stories from his childhood when things were just so different. And the way he tells it, it's exciting, it's funny, it's relatable. It most of the time has much deeper messages. So Donald Davis is quite the amazing storyteller, but I also have personal ties to him. When I was in third grade, he came to my school and he told us stories and he told us about storytelling. We got to ask all these questions. And I looked up at him and I was like, ‘Wow, I wanna do something like that.’ And so he was the person who initially helped start me on this journey of storytelling. To the point where I'm performing right alongside him in a national storytelling festival, which was, it was amazing! I need a better word than that. It was exhilarating!
Anthony Godfrey:
Amazing and exhilarating. That's pretty awesome and amazing that you came full circle to get to introduce the person who introduced you to storytelling.
Clarie Burnham:
Exactly.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now, speaking of your early beginnings as a storyteller, we have Frankie Walton here who was your teacher at the time.
Claire Burnham:
Sixth grade teacher.
Anthony Godfrey:
So she kept the ball rolling for you after you got this initial interest in storytelling. Is that right?
Claire Burnham:
Yes, and it is due to my teachers that I was given so many opportunities to start storytelling. I was in third grade when Donald Davis came to my school, and it was the fourth graders who will often write stories and then as they perform them, the teachers will choose the best ones. And then they went to kind of like a district competition so that they could showcase those stories. But me, as a third grader my teacher saw that I might be good at this, so she let me write a story and work with the fourth graders to give it. And then in fourth grade, obviously I was able to tell more stories. And my fifth grade teacher thought that that was great, so I could show the little fourth graders how it was done. And then my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Walton was able to give me the opportunity to do it again. So that was the last year that I was able to perform that particular district wide storytelling showcase. But the company that does it, Story Crossroads, I have worked with ever since.
Anthony Godfrey:
Wow. That's quite an origin story. Stay with us when we come back. Meet the teacher who inspired Claire's passion and success in storytelling.
Break:
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Anthony Godfrey:
Mrs. Walton, tell me a little bit about what you remember about Claire as a storyteller. Way back when.
Frankie Walton:
I think the thing that I remember most about Claire is her passion and her beautiful way that she expresses language. She was a fantastic writer, and so I knew right off the bat that she would be able to deliver her story in a way that would be meaningful to all of us. And I hadn't originally planned on doing the program of storytelling in my classroom, but when Claire came to me and said, ‘I really want to do this’, she ignited a fire in me to give an opportunity to my entire class to do it. And so I was grateful to Claire because she brought her passion to our entire class and to me as well. I'll never forget her standing up in the room, and on audio I can't give it justice, but she put her hands up in the air, kind of like jazz hands, and she just said, ‘Mind blown’. And in that moment, my mind was blown because I saw her talent and her passion and was so excited to see what she was going to do in the future with this talent.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, that's what great teaching is all about. It's seeing that spark, seeing something in a student and providing those opportunities for them. So thank you for, for being that person for Claire. Tell me what was it like in the classroom? What benefits did you see for your students once you opened this up to your entire class?
Frankie Walton:
For me, it was really easy to attach storytelling to our curriculum and to the core and the standards. Because storytelling is a way in which you can communicate an idea that opens up doors and windows to other people. And so I was able to see them go full circle with the written word into verbal communication. It was just an easy way to get students engaged and interested in something that they weren't necessarily engaged and interested in to start with.
Anthony Godfrey:
And storytelling is very natural for humans. We like to click into that mode of storytelling a lot and stories are compelling and can be persuasive and change our minds about things, but also make us test our own thinking as we're telling the story to someone else. So I think that's a great skill for sixth graders.
Frankie Walton:
Absolutely. Oftentimes they're shy, and nervous about their social standing and I saw many, many students blossom and just take it in a direction that all of a sudden, they became little humans with so much talent that I hadn't seen before. So it was a wonderful opportunity and I'm very blessed to be able to continue working through the Gifted and Talented department in providing this opportunity for all students in our district.
Anthony Godfrey:
Now, tell me what that looks like.
Frankie Walton:
So we, in the Gifted and Talented department, sponsor the festival, or not festival, sponsor the Story Weavers competition each year in the spring. And any teacher in elementary grades 3-6 can participate. They just have their students write a story. Most often it's a tall tale or a fable or a fractured fairy tale, something along those lines. They put their little spin on a traditional story. And then the teacher provides the opportunity for the student to then perform that story and to practice that story. And we encourage them to perform it to each other, to other classes in the school, to parents, to anybody they can get their hands on to tell their story to. They have a class competition or a schoolwide competition, and then, the best speakers and storytellers are then invited to participate in a district showcase.
It's not really a competition. Everyone who participates is featured and celebrated, but we don't really compete for first, second, third. One of the things that's really helpful for our students is that we have adult judges there at our showcase, and those judges are always providing feedback to the students so that they can improve in their storytelling. And we are just so thrilled often to have our students showcase their talents and be able to do it in such a way that's beneficial to each of us, because we get to hear their stories and we laugh and we cry, and we just enjoy being with them and seeing how wonderful these young people truly are.
Claire Burnham:
I’ve got mine hanging on my walls. I look at them when I'm writing for school. I look at the feedback that I got when writing in school and I'm like, ‘Yeah, these judges thought that I was good so I can write this paper.’
Anthony Godfrey:
So the feedback continues to give you a boost and give you some confidence as you go into each new performance.
Claire Burnham:
Precisely.
Anthony Godfrey:
Sounds as if Claire has created a lot of opportunities for many students years after she first got interested in storytelling.
Frankie Walton:
Absolutely. So many of our programs are designed in such a way that the students that are coming up behind them can look to them and see the good things that they do. And Claire has absolutely inspired many, many people.
Anthony Godfrey:
What's next for you and what do you see into the future as a storyteller?
Claire Burnham:
Well, being in the storytelling festival was absolutely a wonderful, incredible experience and I really hope that I can get to do it again. I'm actually already starting to brainstorm a little bit about what story I will use to audition with next time, because it is definitely something I wish to do again. But as for what is next, I plan on using the skills that I learned in my everyday life. Storytelling definitely makes even average life better. It's helped me to have better conversations with my friends. I'm pretty sure it will definitely help me to have the confidence and eloquence that I need in job interviews that I may have upcoming.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt of that. I think you'll do great.
Claire Burnham:
Thank you. Storytelling also can help with acting and acting helps with storytelling. Sure. I definitely love being an actress. That's one of the reasons why I use a lot of expression and movements in my storytelling.
Anthony Godfrey:
I have no doubt you're going to be very successful in whatever you choose and that this will help you because as you said, it's helpful in a lot of aspects of life and day to day life. Which brings me to talking with your mom, who's also here. We have Jet Burnham here to tell us what it's like having a child who can tell stories as well as Claire can.
Jet Burnham:
It's very entertaining. When I ask her about school, it's not a,’ it was fine.’ I get a, I don't know, 40 minute explanation of what she said and what he did and what it smelled like and what it sounded like. Yeah. Her descriptions are long and detailed.
Anthony Godfrey:
I think there are a lot of parents who would really like to hear that kind of report on the school day instead of one word and a nod.
Jet Burnham:
That's true. I have other kids who only give me that, but I only have so many hours in the day, so sometimes I ask her for the five minute version instead of the 50 minute version.
Claire Burnham:
And that is when I learned to talk very fast.
Anthony Godfrey:
Oh, yes. So she limits your time. You still try to get all the information in. If you can.
Claire Burnham:
You can't just cut down the intricate day to day life of what exactly happened in Secondary Math Honors III.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, just a heads up, we are going to have to edit some of this interview either that or make it a three parter.
Claire Burnham:
I'm good with that.
Anthony Godfrey:
Which I appreciate because it's very nice to talk with someone who can speak to a topic so easily. Any advice for those who are considering looking at storytelling as a hobby?
Claire Burnham:
Many people look at storytelling and think, ‘Oh, I could never do that’. At the festival, there were people who came up to me, they were like, ‘Wow, that was so amazing. I could never do that.’ And I just think you are telling a sort of story right now. Storytelling. It's looking at life and yes, embellishing a little, just being able to talk about it. Whether that's your own life or the life of some fictional character or the life of some tortoise and some hare. One of my favorite quotes that I heard at the Storytelling Festival, and it has stuck with me ever since I heard it, was that we need more storytelling because stories turn people into human beings. And if you just want to tell a story, do it, tell a story. It doesn't matter if you trip up on your words a little, that makes it even better. It adds more human layers to the story.
Anthony Godfrey:
Well, thanks for spending the time and congratulations on the medal that you're wearing from the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. And I know you have lots of great stories in your future.
Claire Burnham:
Thank you so much.
Anthony Godfrey:
Thanks for joining us on another episode of The Supercast. Remember, education is the most important thing you'll do today. We'll see you out there.