About The Story School
Mission
The Story School is a fantasy camp for young people located on the outskirts of Boston, MA. We aim to give our campers an inclusive, interactive, and immersive adventure. Our camp allows our participants to become their best selves through storytelling, role-playing, and teamwork. We believe there is a hero waiting to be discovered inside everyone.
Purpose
The Story School gives campers the opportunity to explore who they want to be in a safe and welcoming environment. Often times at school or in extracurricular activities, students feel the need to conform or have trouble fitting in with peer groups. We celebrate non-conformity! Embracing our camper's differences and imagination gives them confidence and allows them to reach their potential. The Story School actively creates a place where students are celebrated for being their unique and creative selves.
Our Story
Like all great stories, ours begins with our main character, Christopher Wiley, the executive director of The Story School. Chris is a long-time LARP enthusiast and educator.
Once upon a time in a far-off land called Alabama, a storyteller was born. Chris Wiley came from a family of engineers and educators and developed a penchant for theater and storytelling. Chris graduated from his small college in the South and moved to the busy city of Boston where he worked as a special education teacher and moonlighted as an actor/stage combatant.
Through this physical storytelling, he discovered Guard Up, Inc. in Burlington, MA where they taught children using foam swords and stories. Working under founder Meghan Gardner, he started in 2008 as a camp counselor at their first-ever overnight camp eventually becoming a director. Every summer, the overnight eduLARP camp called "Wizards & Warriors" transformed hundreds of campers into heroes. Chris fell in love with the camp community, interactive learning, and fantasy play that impacted campers' academic and personal development.
In 2013, The Story School was founded as a non-profit educational organization by the team behind Guard Up supporting the eduLARP overnight camp. After nearly a decade, the pandemic necessitated a transition for The Story School and Christopher answered the call to become the Executive Director of the non-profit. Chris Wiley has been able to help The Story School navigate the pandemic from a fully virtual program in 2020 to a hybrid program in 2021, and then a triumphant return to full in-person programs in 2022. Chris Wiley has focused the power of their LARP game system to allow for full inclusion of the neurodivergent and LGBTQIA+ populations that call The Story School their home. Chris hopes to see The Story School grow more heroes year after year.
The Story School's priority is to make academic learning engaging and retentive for campers by creating a curiosity-based program for all types of learners. Our passion for immersive role play and the fantasy world comes through in the programming and mission of the organization. We are now motivated to grow the summer camp program, and eventually, build year-round programs with scholarships available to all students everywhere. We have a passion for helping students find their inner hero and their community of like-minded friends.
All of us at The Story School can't wait for you to join our adventure!