Live the STORY and bring STEM to life!
At The Story School, our magical professors and master sorcerers weave together fascinating STEM lessons with epic tales to create the most enchanting education you've ever experienced.
Passive learning is out and immersive activities are in!
Our students don't just read about physics -- they become warriors in a gripping historic adventure who build catapults to defend their castle. They don't just listen to lectures about geometry -- they become jousting knights who use the Pythagorean theorem to calculate the perfect striking distance.
Every one of our classes and educational events is built around an intriguing and imaginative story.
WHAT WILL YOU JOIN US FOR?
CURRICULUM
What do our heroes learn?
TEAM BUILDING
Heroes learn team tactics and cooperative skills to succeed in their adventure
CREATIVITY
Activities are designed to foster creativity, innovation, and self-expression
PROBLEM SOLVING
Students learn to view problems in a different light and to utilize creative problem solving
STEM SKILLS
Physics, chemistry, biology and more. Our heroes practice STEM through creative play
COURAGE
Students face their fears and learn to find strength in the face of adversity
COMMUNICATION
Our adventures emphasize communicating thoughts and decisions
LANGUAGES
Our scrolls and spells are in Latin and other languages, just waiting to be deciphered
WORLD CULTURES
Heroes are exposed to other cultures, adding an ethical dimension to our adventures
HISTORY
Heroes learn about characters from around the world and throughout history
MISSION & PHILOSOPHY
Our Mission
To promote story-based education for students via summer camps, events, workshops, and other outreach activities
To gather and provide scientific research and information on the benefits of story-based education
To provide training for the betterment of curriculum in educational institutes
To provide scholarships for students pursuing story-based education – especially as it pertains to research which promotes the benefits of story-based education
Our Values
We believe that stories are a profoundly effective vehicle for learning
Our Purpose
To create a greater understanding of how stories improve lesson comprehension and retention
Our Vision
To be a resource for educators and learners for improving the distribution of and access to story based learning
Every child is a hero.
The Story School gives them the chance to prove it to themselves
and you will see your child grow into the hero they want to be.
Because our stories are your child’s practice for real life.
Parents & guardians: take a moment and imagine how your child will feel
when, in a moment of strife, they discover their courage…
When they stand before a villain and fight for those who cannot defend themselves…
When they speak for those who suffer from lack of a voice…
When they face failure and continue forward because they know, deep in their heart,
that they can survive this setback and try again…
When they bond with other kids who feel the same call to action and
desire to be greater than the moment before them…
When they celebrate their victory with an intense feeling of accomplishment –
because they had a part in this story and they made a difference…
When they realize that learning is an intriguing, life long endeavor
that is exciting to explore outside of the boundaries of school.
TESTIMONIALS
“This is the best camp experience my son has ever had! He can’t wait to go back! My son Ryan is usually the brainiac who no one really knows at home, but when we went to camp for the feast and heard he stood up in front of everyone to defend a spirit who no one else believed in and changed the minds of the rest, he experienced what I knew he could accomplish. Everyone was telling him how brave he was…I always knew my son could do wonderful things…but camp allowed him to show himself.”
- Marianne Murphy Harris
Testimonial of a Practicum Student: Brianna Priffer (May 2021)
"My daughter is High Functioning ASD. Because of this, most typical afterschool activities and camps don’t work for her. Often, she can only be in programs designed for kids with special needs.
The Story School is a wonderful exception.
Their programs encourage kids to use their imaginations and creativity to add to the story being told. This is not a passive program, it’s an active one where kids can immerse as much as they like in the story and be part of its unfolding. This provides a flexible environment that meets my daughter’s needs.
Along the way, the kids solve problems, work as a team, exercise, and so much more.
During the pandemic, many of their programs were able to continue virtually, giving my child a much needed social and creative outlet. They also started an adult AD&D game. My husband, daughter, and I all participate in this game and it has been fantastic. My husband and I played before we had kids and had the time to organize the game. Now, we get to play with a fantastic game master without any of the overhead. It felt like I reclaimed something I had lost, and I got to do it with my daughter making it even more special.
I give the programs at the Story School my highest recommendation."
- Jennifer French
HELP SAVE THE STORIES!
Thank you to our amazing donors who helped raise nearly $25,000 for our 2021 Camp Season. The fact that we were able to run a successful camp program with over 70 total campers and prevent any COVID exposures and outbreaks is thanks to the support we received.
Our 2022 Season is full of hope and energy, but we still need your support. We have a beautiful new camp location at the Prindle Pond Conference Center partnering with Nature's Classroom and we have the ability to host twice as many campers as this past year.
This year our donation funds will be used to support our robust scholarship program, continuing equipment and service needs to keep our camps operating safely during the continued pandemic, and helping grow our programs to support twice as many campers.
There are still campers who need scholarships or they won't be able to attend. There are still costs left to cover all of the amenities of our venue. Lastly, we have decided to increase the amount of outsourced support for all pandemic-related safety precautions. We're asking our community to help us one more time as we round that final corner and begin the summer camp season.
Where will your donation go during this second half of the fundraiser? 50% as always will continue to go directly to campers as scholarships as we are still receiving daily requests for campers to attend who cannot cover the costs themselves. 25% will continue to cover venue costs that despite the loosening of guidelines is still presenting an additional cost above and beyond our usual camp season, and the final 25% will be going toward our on-site professional COVID-19 testing, high-quality PPE, and compensating our additional staffing to ensure the safety of all campers, staff, heroes, monsters, and mages alike.
Thank you again to all of our donors thus far. Together we can make summer camp magical, safe, and an epic success.
