Stories Education Programs

Student Workshops

“Stories from Deep in the Heart” is Texas Folklife's award-winning in depth folklore and audio documentary training for Austin and Central Texas high public school students, teachers, and community members.  Participants create short, broadcast quality audio documentaries on the stories, folklore, arts and traditions of their families and communities. Participants are teachers and students from schools identified by AISD and other districts as undergoing critical population changes, schools with a high percentage of at-risk youth, and schools that have pressing need of cultural diversity training. 

Our "Stories" project team is available for introductory presentations at your school:

• Teacher in-service program presentations
• Student presentations
• Introduction to Digital Storytelling presentations
• One-day or multi-session "Podcasting" workshops for teachers and students
• Virtual and Asynchronous Programming

Listen to student produced Stories on SoundCloud:

Stories Summer Institute for Educators

The :Stories Summer Institute” is a 5-day workshop training for teachers and students selected by an application process to work with professional folklorists, journalists and radio producers.  Project goals are to inspire teachers to integrate workshop concepts into classroom teaching; to create regional and national outlets for folklore programming; and to effect positive improvements in attitudes and behavior among participants.

The series concludes with a free public reception and presentation of the finished audio stories created during the workshop. 

Listen to stories produced by Stories Summer Institute Participants on SoundCloud:

Contact "Stories from Deep in the Heart" by email or call 512-441-9255 for more information!

Generous funding for “Stories from Deep in the Heart” is provided by the City of Austin's Cultural Arts Division, Texas Commission on the Arts, and major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art. Additional support is provided by Texas Folklife's Members and Board of Directors.