Story Submitted
Riley Browning, a student at Madison Creative Arts Academy, won the Virginia Rivers Scholarship, which includes lodging, admission to an awards banquet and festival registration to the Florida Storytelling Festival beginning on Thursday, April 12 and ending on Sunday, April 15.
Madison County Florida Storytelling is pleased to announce that Riley Browning, daughter of Bailey and Leigh Ann Browning; and granddaughter of Edwin and Faye Browning, has won a 2018 Virginia Rivers Scholarship competition from the Florida State Storytelling Association.
Riley, a student at Madison Creative Arts Academy, and eight other Madison County students were featured tellers on the stage at the Fourth Annual Tellabration! at O’Toole’s Herb Farm in November of 2017. Local video-historian John Ludwig volunteered to film the event and then edited the young tellers’ stories into separate e-files so they could be entered into the state competition. Because of his hard work and their great storytelling, Madison County has, for the fourth year in a row, had a student win this scholarship.
The Virginia Rivers Youthful Voices Scholarship is a key component of the FSA Youthful Voices program. Each year, winners from all over the state and their chaperones attend the Florida Storytelling Festival on a scholarship that includes lodging, awards banquet, and festival registration. Their weekend of learning, listening, and networking culminates in the Youthful Voices Concert – a highlight of the Florida Storytelling Festival weekend where the youthful tellers will take the stage. This year’s festival will be held from Thursday, April 12 to Sunday, April 15 at the Lakeside Inn, in Mount Dora, Fl. Previous scholarship winners from Madison County have included Abby Ratliff, Jade Plummer, and Liberty Blair.
Madison County Florida Storytelling is proud of the hard work of all the students who entered their stories for its stage and looks forward to even more young people submitting stories again this coming September for a chance to tell on the local stage under the big tent.
For more information about the upcoming Fifth Annual Tellabration!, and other storytelling activities, please contact James Glaser or Wanda Violet at (850) 973-8813 or visit the website at www.mcfst.org.