How to Become a Spellbinders Volunteer Storyteller

Updated

Spellbinders is a non-profit organization of volunteers who bring oral storytelling into classrooms in their own communities. To become a volunteer storyteller, you start through the "Start Volunteering" path on spellbinders.org and complete Spellbinders training, which is what qualifies you as a "Spellbinders Trained Volunteer Storyteller." The site describes the role as good for kids, teachers, volunteers, and the local community, so the main requirements are a willingness to train and a commitment of a few hours to tell stories in a school near you.

What the role involves

Spellbinders volunteers tell stories in person to students, typically in classroom settings. The organization frames this as a way to create connections between young and old, advance literacy, and enrich the lives of both children and volunteers.

Two volunteer perspectives on the site describe the experience:

  • "Telling stories as a Spellbinder volunteer gives me more fun than any human has a right to have." — Karen Hurst
  • "You'll never have more fun and you will never, ever experience as special of a reward as having a group of fourth graders smile and clap when you tell a good story. It is very rewarding." — Patrick McCarthy

The site also notes that storytelling supports healthy aging, which is relevant if you are considering volunteering later in life or recruiting older adults.

Steps to get started

  1. Go to the Start Volunteering section of spellbinders.org. This is the entry point the site provides for people who want to join.
  2. Complete Spellbinders training. The site distinguishes between volunteers generally and "Spellbinders Trained Volunteer Storyteller," so training is the step that makes you eligible to tell stories under the Spellbinders program.
  3. Connect with your local community. Spellbinders volunteers tell stories "within their own communities," so your volunteering happens in schools near you rather than through a centralized placement.
  4. If you are already a trained storyteller, use the Quick Reference guide on the site. It is described as helping you find stories, links, lists, notes for leaders and trainers, and more.

If you are an educator inviting a storyteller

Teachers have a separate path: the site's "Invite a Storyteller to Your Classroom" section explains how having a Spellbinders Trained Storyteller in your classroom enhances literacy and supports your curriculum. Teachers who have hosted storytellers describe the visits in specific terms:

  • A Broomfield teacher said the storyteller's ease with children was immediately apparent and her storytelling was mesmerizing, and that the stories connected to class history or reading topics added to the enjoyment — "I loved having the kids turn to me wide-eyed, knowing they were making connections."
  • A Basalt Elementary School teacher thanked the storyteller for visiting and noted that oral language and auditory processing are crucial at that developmental level, and that the class was "amazing with their retell and recall" afterward.

What Spellbinders does beyond classrooms

The site's news section shows volunteers active in public media and events, which gives a sense of the broader community around the program:

  • CBS news featured Broomfield and Boulder Valley Spellbinders.
  • Rocky Mountain PBS featured High Prairie Storytellers.
  • Roaring Fork Valley Storytellers held a "Liar's Contest" on March 30 with NPR's Peter Sagal of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! as celebrity judge; the program was broadcast on Aspen Public Radio.

What to check before committing

The site does not publish a fee, schedule, or training format in the material available here, so confirm those details through the Start Volunteering section or your local Spellbinders group. What is clear from the site is the sequence: express interest through Start Volunteering, get trained, then tell stories in schools in your community — or, if you are a teacher, request a trained storyteller for your classroom.