Dommerich Elementary Storytelling Troupe students win state competition

There’s an art to storytelling, and it’s not always the easiest thing to learn. 

At Dommerich Elementary School, though, a handful of students are learning the best way to deliver stories — and some have even been recognized at the state level.

Dommerich Media Specialist Marcy Aydt and 12 students recently formed a storytelling troupe. Members memorize and perform stories for other students on campus. 

The students, who range from third to fifth grade, recently submitted five- to seven-minute story presentations to the K-12 Youthful Voices storytelling competition. Three students from the group were chosen as winners. 

Jonah Bloom, Tilly Raij and Aristides Bakamitsos will be telling their stories at the Florida Storytelling Festival Jan. 26 in Mount Dora.

Although Aydt helped her students on which books or stories they could learn for their presentation — Dommerich parents have praised her ability to find literature that perfectly matched the children’s personalities — she said the final production is all from the students.

“I’ll be at the festival and I’ll be clapping the loudest,” Aydt said. 

Jonah Bloom

Third-grader Jonah Bloom had a few choices for his presentation but landed on “Doodle Flute” by Daniel Pinkwater, a story about a new instrument appropriately called the Doodle Flute. 

“I liked how the people who own the Doodle Flute act — they’re calm and chill,” Bloom said. “I think the story is very creative, and that’s why I picked it.”

It was one thing to memorize the story and quite another to make the characters come alive, he said. The 9-year-old spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to exactly make the doodle flute noises, in particular. He said he had to go inside the characters’ shoes and actually become the characters. 

Aydt said the book is all about being a nonconformist and thinking for yourself — something that fits Bloom perfectly. 

The finalist said he is grateful to Aydt and his parents for the tips and advice that helped him advance to the festival. 

Tilly Raij 

Tilly Raij had something of a head start when picking her story “The Snow in Chelm.” It was one of her favorite tales at her synagogue. 

The Jewish folktale is centered on an Eastern European village of well-intentioned but foolish people trying to solve problems on Hanukkah through increasingly silly means. Raij said she likes it because of her Jewish heritage, its snowy setting and humor. 

“The characters are older people, but they’re really dumb — that’s the funny part,” she said. “They’re doing it wrong, one day at a time.”

Raij first memorized her story and then created the different voices for each of her characters. Her mother Emily Raij said she has a knack for performing the story in a deadpan way that still brings out the humor. 

Tilly Raij was shocked when she learned she would be a competition finalist — her mother was just proud. 

“She really did put a lot of effort into this with practicing,“ Emily Raij said. “We were also proud, because it was a good lesson in showing that your hard work can pay off. But I’m proud personally because it’s not something I could do. I’m not great at performing. … I was proud she could feel confident and get really into it.”

Aristides Bakamitsos

Aristides Bakamitsos’ aunt Nancy read him Greek myths before bed when he was young. He decided he’d pick one of his favorites. 

Bakamitsos chose “The Tangled Web of Arachne” by author Heather Alexander. The Greek myth tells the story of when the boastful weaver Arachne challenges the goddess Athena to a weaving competition. Arachne is punished for her pride and transformed into the world’s first spider. 

The fifth-grader has spent weeks practicing his performance in front of friends and family. He worked hard on the Arachne myth with his twin sister, Evgenia, who also submitted a story to the competition. He is set to perform his story in front of a few hundred people at the end of the month, but that doesn’t bother him — he already has had practice performing with the school’s drama club.

“My mom really helped me too,” Bakamitsos said. “I practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced and practiced.”