About Leah

Leah Ruekberg, Storyteller

Leah Ruekberg, M.A.T. is a storyteller and story instigator. She engages students in folk lore and personal stories in order to both entertain and incite them to question their choices and imagine their place in a larger community. Through storytelling, guided inquiry, creative dramatics and writing, she empowers students to become the narrators of their own lives.

Leah received a BA in Communications (“Oral Interpretation” was what storytelling was called in the ‘70s) from MidAmerican Nazarene College, and a Master of Arts in Teaching Humanities from Colorado College. She taught English Language Arts, directed theater and coached public speaking in Kansas and Colorado for ten years before moving to Rochester, New York in 1990.

Leah discovered her true passion for storytelling in the early 90s and has been actively performing in schools, museums, churches, community organizations and conferences ever since. She co-created “Stories for Grownups,” a monthly storytelling series at Borders Books and Music from 1997-2001.

Her one woman show, “Good and Guilty” was praised by one participant as “the most moving storytelling experience of my life” at its premier at Temenos Retreat Center in 2001. It was chosen for the National Storytelling Conference in 2003, as well as for Sharing the Fire Conference in Boston in 2004. She has also performed "Good and Guilty" at a variety of locations in Rochester.

Leah has worked as a teaching artist since 1993, designing programs, teaching, and performing with

	Wolf Trap: Early Learning Through the Arts
	Aesthetic Education Institute
	The Alternative Literacy Program (sponsored by Genesee Valley BOCES)
	Write It!
	Regional Program of Excellence
	Project ADEPT

In addition, Leah has been part of the Empire State Partnership grant in cooperation with the SSOTA Greece Public Schools for the past two years. She has also been a member of the teaching faculty of Writers & Books Literary Center of Rochester since 1995.

What Others Are Saying About Leah

Leah has received NYSCA grant for her residency, “Funnier Than Fiction: Your Life As Story” for the past four years. The partner teacher, Sandra Kushner, says: “Students have performed much better on the writing prompt test, writing complete stories which included more details and conversation than 4th grade students have done in the previous years.”

Sandy Lawrence, Library Media Specialist, adds, “ Miss Leah’s Artist in Residence program has paid extra dividends to the library. Students have come prepared to use their newly honed writing and keyboarding skills in order to initiate and complete their yearly research project....I no longer hear the complaints and confusion of previous years. I have been able to use our library time more efficiently, because students don’t need a huge amount of pre-instruction for our activities. They realize the importance or writing as a process. When I ask for details in their outlines, I get nods of understanding and excitement. Students are simply writing more and enjoying it. We so often see compartmentalized learning, so it is very exciting for me to see the transfer of knowledge from one subject and classroom to another. I fervently hope that this program will become a staple for our school."