Wonder Weavers bring stories to life for SEAS preschoolers

When Colleen Shaskin was growing up, her brother was an amazing storyteller. She always liked that and then, years later, she and friend Tina Rohde enjoyed the storytelling at a conference in Iowa. They quickly decided to form their own company – Wonder Weavers – Storytellers.

Last Thursday, Shaskin, performing solo, offered traditional and original stories to the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Preschool students.

For close to an hour, she told stories, using facial expressions, puppets and her own voice. And she got the kids participating, too.

The stories are geared to the age level of the audience, Shaskin said.

“With this one, too, I knew there would be parents and grandparents in attendance,” she said. “I wanted them to be interesting and have a universal appeal.”

When Shaskin and Rohde attended that conference about 15 years ago, they were hooked.

“We heard so many great stories, we wanted to learn more about the art of storytelling,” said Shaskin.

So they did. They attended a number of workshops and conventions, listened, got ideas, and then went out on their own. Today, they visit schools, libraries and art fairs to give their presentations.

SEAS Preschool Director Barb Laumeyer reads about Wonder Weavers on the Internet and contacted Shaskins.

“The Week of the Young Child is next week and this is the beginning of that observance,” she said.

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