In the winter of 2016, Shana Brown and Kelli Spann’s sixth grade students at Broadview-Thomson K-8 worked with Jack Straw’s artist team to create their own audio myths inspired by Japanese myths and ghost stories.

Storyteller Zack Davisson introduced students to different kinds of Japanese spirits know as “yokai.” Students worked in the classroom with Jack Straw writer Kathleen Flenniken to write their audio stories. Vocal coaches Meg McLynn, Andrew McGinn, and Christine Marie Brown helped students use their voices to tell their stories; and audio engineers Daniel Guenther and Camelia Jade helped students record their stories, create their own sound effects, and produce their audio myths in Jack Straw’s recording studios.

Audio Myths 2016 was produced by Broadview-Thomson sixth grade students and Jack Straw Cultural Center, in partnership with the EMP Museum (now MoPOP), with the generous support of the Washington State Arts Commission, Wells Fargo, Boeing, and the Broadview Thomson PTA.

The Jack Straw artist team included writer Kathleen Flenniken, vocal coaches Andrew McGinn, Meg McLynn, and Christine Marie Brown, audio engineers Daniel Guenther and Camelia Jade, production assistants Leah Meyer and Ayesha Ubayatilaka, and Executive Director Joan Rabinowitz. Special thanks to EMP education curator Bonnie Showers, Broadview Thomson sixth grade students, sixth grade teachers Shana Brown and Kelli Spann, teachers Brian Robertson, Diane Kennedy, James Dixon, and Sarah Blake, PTA liaison Vickie Steinway-Provenza, field trip chaperones, and Japanese Storyteller Zack Davisson.

Artists