Volunteer training set for Oct. 14 at Doak House Museum

The Doak House Museum will offer training Tuesday, Oct. 14, to all its volunteers in using storytelling techniques with children and special emphasis on children's educational programs at the Doak House.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer at the museum on the Tusculum College campus is also invited to the training session to be held 10 a.m. to noon at the Behan Arena in the lower level of the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Building. To become a volunteer, an individual must provide 10 days of service at the museum.

Conducting the training session on Oct. 14 will be Sherry Norfolk, a storyteller-in-residence at the International Storyteller Center in Jonesborough. Norfolk will be sharing how to tell stories to children in grades K-2.

Norfolk has been a professional storyteller since 1981, and performs and teaches storytelling all over the country. She tells folktales from around the world, using storytelling as a non-didactic way to teach universal values, elevate understanding and acceptance of other cultures, and promote environmental awareness. Norfolk served as a consultant on Turner South's "Stories to Learn By." Her skills as a performer, teacher, and workshop leader are in demand all over the country. Norfolk is co-author of "The Moral of the Story: Folktales for Character Development."

The training will be an opportunity to prepare for the museum's "Storytelling & Gingerbread" educational program being offered Nov. 1-Dec. 19. In this program, students learn about 19th century holiday customs, and listen to stories about the Doak family children and Miss Molly Mouse who lives at the Doak House. They also make a 19th century ornament to take home, decorate a gingerbread man cookie to eat, and enjoy the story "The Gingerbread Man."

To make reservations for the training session, please call the Doak House Museum at 636-8554 or 1-800-729-0256 ext. 5251.|

The Doak House Museum, which is operated by the Department of Museum Program and Studies at Tusculum, was the home of the Reverend Samuel Witherspoon Doak, co-founder of the college. The museum hosted more than 7,000 school children from Northeast Tennessee last year for a variety of educational programs related to the early 19th century.