{"id":604258,"date":"2026-04-14T21:38:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604258\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:38:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:38:17","slug":"students-from-across-montreal-took-to-the-stage-for-emsbs-annual-storytelling-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/604258\/","title":{"rendered":"Students from across Montreal took to the stage for EMSB\u2019s annual storytelling festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montreal elementary students took to the stage Tuesday morning at Willingdon Senior Campus for the second half of the English Montreal School Board\u2019s storytelling festival, presenting their stories in front of a live audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt really nervous,\u201d said Miles Meekins, grade six student at Willingdon Senior Campus. \u201cBut when I just got on the stage, I felt so ready to do this.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"Miles Meekins, grade six student, Willingdon Senior Campus at the EMSB Storytelling Festival on April 14, 2026, in Montreal. (Pamela Pagano, CityNews) <\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents left me to babysit my sister and it didn\u2019t go well,\u201d added Meekins.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what his story was about, a true one, mixed with a bit of imagination.<\/p>\n

\"\"Students from the first half of the EMSB Storytelling Festival at Gerald MacShane in Montreal on April 7, 2026. (Courtesy: Julie Tytler)<\/p>\n

The first half of the storytelling event took place on April 7 at Gerald MacShane.<\/p>\n

Two students from each participating school were selected by their peers, one telling a story in English and the other in French.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018Once upon a time\u2019 signs at the EMSB Storytelling Festival on April 14, 2026, in Montreal. (Pamela Pagano, CityNews) <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little nerve-wracking, but I pushed through and let my creativity flow,\u201d said Meekins.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn grades five and six, the EMSB schools are invited, it\u2019s not compulsory, but invited to go through the storytelling process,\u201d said Julie Tytler, English Language Arts Consultant at the EMSB.\u00a0\u201cAnd that process is a 5-P process.\u201d <\/p>\n

That includes: \u2018Play\u2019 with stories, \u2018Pitch\u2019 some favourites, \u2018Pick\u2019 which stories they will tell, \u2018Practice\u2019, and then \u2018Perform\u2019. <\/p>\n

And perform they did, as laughs and smiles filled the room.<\/p>\n

\"\"Students at the EMSB Storytelling Festival on April 14, 2026, in Montreal. (Pamela Pagano, CityNews)<\/p>\n

As for anyone afraid of public speaking, the students had some advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I tell them that they\u2019re always braver than they seem and smarter than they think,\u201d said Letizia Galve, a student from Merton Elementary.<\/p>\n

\"\"Video being taken of a student at the EMSB Storytelling Festival on April 14, 2026, in Montreal. (Pamela Pagano, CityNews)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re ever afraid, don\u2019t forget you have your parents and people supporting you,\u201d said Maryam Elberier, grade five student at Dunrae Gardens. \u201cYou can always be yourself, be yourself in front of everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone can do anything,\u201d added Meekins. \u201cJust be yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tStudent presenting their story at the EMSB Storytelling Festival on April 14, 2026 in Montreal. (Pamela Pagano, CityNews) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal elementary students took to the stage Tuesday morning at Willingdon Senior Campus for the second half of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":{"0":"post-604258","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-montreal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}