Storytime at the arboretum

By Steve Hill
University Week

Educators at the Washington Park Arboretum are trying a different method of teaching children about nature and science.

Storyvine, a free monthly program with professional storyteller Rose Fitzpatrick, relies on the art of storytelling to convey messages of stewardship for the environment to children and their parents. The November program, “Giving Thanks,” is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday. Monica Ravin, the UW’s education coordinator at the arboretum, says storytelling is a tried and true method of passing on respect for nature.

Professional storyteller Rose Fitzpatrick is an engaging presence at the Washington Park Arboretum’s Storyvine.

“Traditionally, cultures who live more closely tied to the earth than we do, Native Americans, for example, have relied on an oral tradition to teach respect for the earth,” Ravin said recently from her loft office that overlooks the expansive green of the arboretum grounds. “So I think it’s logical that we use storytelling here. It helps dispel a lot of fears and kids learn more when they’re having fun.”

Stories range from fables that teach a moral lesson, to anecdotes that help children distinguish one tree from another. But most of all, it’s just plain fun.

“My primary goal is to tell a good story, the best story I can tell,” Fitzpatrick said. “But in doing so, people always take away something.”

For example, Fitzpatrick tells one story about mice in the forest fleeing an oncoming fire. The mice, because of their “short little legs,” she tells the children, can’t run very fast. With the fire gaining on them, the desperate mice first approach a red cedar and then a hemlock, asking if they can hide safely in the trees’ cones. The answer is invariably no, there’s simply no room. But then the mice get to a Douglas fir. “Sure, you can hide in my cone,” says the tree. “There’s plenty of room.”

At that point, Fitzpatrick shows the children a cone from the Douglas fir, one end of which looks remarkably similar to the hindquarters of a mouse.

“When children come to the arboretum, they remember some things and they forget others,” Fitzpatrick said. “But after that story, you can bet they’ll always remember a Douglas fir.”

That’s common with the Storyvine sessions, according to Ravin.

“We’re not blatantly linking science and storytelling for them,” she said. “But it gets the point across. They’re having fun and that’s important because learning can’t take place unless people are receptive to it.”

Sometimes Fitzpatrick relies on some quick thinking to guarantee that her audience is receptive. At one recent Storyvine she noticed a boy in the audience who was visibly upset, crying because he had hurt his thumb. Fitzpatrick told a story about a child who hurt his thumb but managed to overcome the pain and discomfort because of his bravery.

“It made the little boy and his mom feel really special,” Ravin said. “Rose can run the gamut. She has a large bag of tricks.”

Storyvine is free and open to the public, but Ravin said preregistration is required. To register, call 543-8800. Each Storyvine lasts about one hour and includes up to six stories.