We choose a world where everyone is valued, where everyone is safe, and where everyone can thrive. It all starts by telling your story.
Everyone has a story. When was the last time you told your story? When was the last time someone told you their story? How can storytelling lead to empathy and understanding?
Encourage middle school/junior high school or high school students to participate in the We Choose All of Us Story Exchange to build empathy and understanding in your school and community! This challenge is based on the ideas from Colum McCann and Narrative 4’s Story Exchange.
Each student should choose from and respond to one of these three themes to get started:
Download the facilitators guide for more information and prompts on the themes!
Everyone needs to find or be assigned a partner for the story exchange. It works best with someone you don’t know very well. Each partner should have 10 to 15 minutes to tell their story.
Once you and your partner have had a chance to listen to each other’s story, join two to four other partner groups (the ideal number for the story share is 10 people in a group along with a teacher/trusted adult to help hold the space) and have each member of the larger group tell their partner’s story using the first-person point-of-view.
Immediately upon finishing the story exchange, debrief as a group how it went by starting with the prompt: “Choose one word to describe how you feel right now.” Go around the circle and give everyone who wants a chance to share time to do so.
All individuals, students in a class/youth groups, or the entire student body (when at least 75% of students participate) who enters the Story Exchange Challenge and scores over 80 points will receive a We Choose All of Us T-shirt!
Click to view the National Story Exchange Guidelines and Rules
Click to view the Facilitator’s Guide
Click to view current Story Exchange submissions
We Choose All of Us Poetic Vision