{"id":347,"date":"2020-04-08T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T18:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/?p=347"},"modified":"2020-04-08T14:57:04","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T18:57:04","slug":"telling-the-story-no-matter-what-by-yael-schick-director-of-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/telling-the-story-no-matter-what-by-yael-schick-director-of-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Telling the Story, No Matter What by Yael Schick, Director of Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing up, Passover (Pesach) overtook the spring curriculum in my school. Weeks were spent studying the Haggadah, creating our own, learning the laws and practices that had been passed down through generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The most important thing is to tell the story of the Exodus,” I remember one teacher explaining. “Even if one is having a seder alone, they should still tell the story, read it to themselves and speak what happened.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I remember the image that came to my mind, a forlorn adult sitting at a beautifully set table, whispering the words all alone. I remember the pang of sadness that came over me, and how I comforted myself, dismissing the image with the knowledge that no one was really alone, that Pesach was a time of family and community, that surely everyone had someone to tell the story to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Seder is a time for togetherness. After all, the story we tell is not a story of an individual, but of a people. It was through the Exodus, the horrors and the miracles, that the Jews became a nation. They grew united through their days of affliction, through the splitting of the sea, through taking their terrified steps into the unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But more than that, the seder is a time for stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve thought about those early lessons from elementary school over the years; I just never got it. Why should an individual observing alone have to tell the story to themselves? Can’t they just have their wine and matzah and call it a night?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I see it differently now. Because within the story of the nation is the story of individuals, thousands, now millions, of people who weathered those hardships, took leaps of faith, saw the world change before their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when you tell yourself that story, when you are both the narrator and the listener, you and the story are one. The story becomes part of your being, and it shows you who you really are, the incredible deeds you are capable of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we are alone and not alone and we need stories desperately. I feel beyond blessed to be celebrating with my immediate family, and though we’ll be telling the Pesach story together, I am going to make sure I tell myself the story too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am wishing everyone stories of hope and courage and love, to those who celebrate and to those who don’t. Tell yourself your story, and may it strengthen and nourish you for the days to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up, Passover (Pesach) overtook the spring curriculum in my school. Weeks were spent studying the Haggadah, creating our own, learning the laws and practices that had been passed down through generations. “The most important thing is to tell the story of the Exodus,” I remember one teacher explaining. “Even if one is having a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-staff-voices","entry entry-center"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9aRpX-5B","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":539,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/this-thanksgiving-i-am-not-alone-a-poem-by-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":0},"title":"“This Thanksgiving, I Am Not Alone” -A Poem by You","author":"Rebecca Wallace-Segall","date":"November 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On Tuesday, November 26th, 2024, we sent our community of young writers, parents, guardians, supporters, and educators a set of prompts and received dozens of lines of poetry in response. 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Thank you to all of the members of our community who contributed to this poem including young writers, parents, guardians, school teachers, Writopia instructors, staff,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Newsletter"","block_context":{"text":"Newsletter","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/newsletter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":779,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/a-series-of-small-gestures-embracing-conversation-and-storytelling-in-our-spring-professional-development-sessions-to-help-reframe-the-way-kids-think-about-ai-get-kids-excited-about-reading-and-hel\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":2},"title":"A Series of Small Gestures: Embracing Conversation and Storytelling in Our Spring Professional Development Sessions to Help Reframe the Way Kids Think About AI, Get Kids Excited About Reading, and Help Kids Shine Their Inner Light","author":"Matthew Jellison","date":"June 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Matthew Jellison and the Instructors at Writopia Lab Each spring we hold a series of professional developments for our instructors that expands our resources and punches in on a specific element of our teaching practice. Last year, we focused on the hard skills and how we can fold grammar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "EduPolicy"","block_context":{"text":"EduPolicy","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/edupolicy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":122,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/on-being\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":3},"title":"On Being a Present Black Writer","author":"Jeremy Wallace-Segall","date":"September 14, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Janelle Williams, In-School and Outreach Lead Instructor In the first year, first semester of my MFA in creative writing program, we discussed a short story by African American writer Dana Johnson, \u201cMelvin in the Sixth Grade.\u201d One of my favorite professors, a white man who lives on the Upper\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Staff Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Staff Voices","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/staff-voices\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8956_08_17.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8956_08_17.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8956_08_17.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8956_08_17.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/IMG_8956_08_17.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":240,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/writing-dance-leap-faith-lena-roy-westchester-regional-manager\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":4},"title":"Writing & Dance: A Leap of Faith by L\u00e9na Roy, Westchester Regional Manager","author":"L\u00e9na Roy","date":"December 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A student of mine spontaneously leapt up and started moving to a peer\u2019s piece of poetry during a summer camp workshop this past summer. This inspired a whole session of interpretive dance to poetry. Right away I thought of my daughter\u2019s dance company, the Isadora Duncan Youth Ensemble, directed by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Staff Voices"","block_context":{"text":"Staff Voices","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/category\/staff-voices\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-29-at-4.05.37-PM.png?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-29-at-4.05.37-PM.png?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-29-at-4.05.37-PM.png?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Screen-Shot-2017-12-29-at-4.05.37-PM.png?fit=800%2C532&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":427,"url":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/i-am-curious\/","url_meta":{"origin":347,"position":5},"title":"I Am Curious…","author":"Matthew Jellison","date":"January 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bianca Turetsky Bren\u00e9 Brown's \"Dare to Lead\" At our last virtual retreat we took an exercise from Brene Brown\u2019s book, Dare to Lead, and through the process of elimination discovered what our core values truly are. 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