The myths of Conifer: West Jeff students seek tall tales about life in the area

Conifer has its share of tall tales, and some students at West Jefferson Middle School are trying to find them.

Teacher Frank Reetz asks: Wouldn't it be great to learn of some long-lost stories from the quiet woods of southern Jefferson County, compose them, then read them back for other ears to hear?

That’s the idea Reetz is fostering in the myths-and-stories unit that his seventh-grade gifted-and-talented language-arts students have begun.

But first the students learn about traditional mythology. Students sail the Aegean Sea, keep their eye on Cyclops and investigate Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” They cut their mythological teeth on stories of the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Next, students will apply the concepts of Greek mythology to Conifer. Reetz wants to create a yearly tradition of storytelling for the students and the community.

“The kids have learned about the project. They're jazzed, too,” Reetz said.

He sees the project as an opportunity for locals to tell a story about a place or a person, someone who has accomplished something notable or has demonstrated resiliency and faced challenges.

In addition to collecting stories about Conifer, students also will learn research skills, interviewing techniques, documentation, story-idea approaches, composition, speaking and loyalty to their community.

Reetz is in the process of garnering the Conifer area’s storytellers and the keepers of the tall tales for interview sessions with students. Students will interview their subjects at the school.

To help teach the students about writing these sorts of stories, Reetz has tapped the Denver Lighthouse Writers Workshop. A storyteller-type writer will come to the school and work with the students to write and polish their stories and myths.

Once the students complete the unit, they will give back to the community in the form of their stories. And students want to make them accessible to all members of the community. Reetz has tentatively planned an event in February.


From the High Timber Times January 31,2010