On this West Virginia Morning, Memorial Day weekend brings the return of the Vandalia Gathering at the state capitol. Also, we listen to an excerpt from the latest Us & Them. In this episode, host Trey Kay explores childhood trauma.
For many, summer is often associated with camp and quintessential camp activities like swimming, making s’mores and telling ghost stories.
Last week, a group of nine students in Pocahontas County took telling ghost stories a step further, by learning how to make short, animated films at Monster Movie Camp.
On the last day of Monster Movie Camp, the students were standing at their workstations, hurriedly putting the final touches on the illustrations for their film. Molly Cook was drawing the shape of a funny looking monster with a magic marker.
“I just like drawing. I’m only 10. I’m the youngest person in this class,” she said. She made a short, animated film, about a legendary cryptid from Braxton County, known as the Flatwoods Monster.
After drawing the images, or creating a set with sculpture, the students used iPads to film their movies. They spent days working on their small sets and filming their stop-action animation.
Many of the students said they signed up partly because they like to draw. Jesse Kelly said he likes theatre, and performing, and he wanted to learn to make movies as another creative outlet.
“I think I surprised myself on some of the things that I did because I didn’t think I could do it that good,” Kelly said. “Like, once I watched it, it was better than I thought it would be.”
The Pocahontas County Opera House hosted the five-day Monster Movie Camp. Artist Bryan Richards and writer Howard Parsons also helped teach the students how to animate stories.
On the final day of camp, the students showed their parents their films, which were projected on a big screen inside the Pocahontas Opera House.
In the interest of full disclosure, Roxy Todd, who reported this story, is friends with Brooke Shuman, who organized the camp.
On this West Virginia Morning, Memorial Day weekend brings the return of the Vandalia Gathering at the state capitol. Also, we listen to an excerpt from the latest Us & Them. In this episode, host Trey Kay explores childhood trauma.
This week's broadcast of Mountain Stage was recorded on the campus of West Virginia University (WVU) at the Canady Creative Arts Center. Joining us on this episode is Ruthie Foster, Charlie Mars, The Wandering Hearts, Fellow Pynins, Rebecca Porter and guest host David Mayfield.
Early trauma affects our psychological and physical health and nearly half the children in the U.S. under 18 have experienced trauma. Research continues to help us learn more about the impact of childhood neglect and abuse. In fact, when a child experiences a traumatic event, the consequences can last a lifetime. Childhood trauma can create poor health outcomes later in life.