UND CONNECT: Toolkit teaches students about storytelling

Project helps small towns preserve their stories while building a resource for teachers across North Dakota 

Every community has stories worth telling. But whether they get told can depend on something more practical: access to the storyteller’s tools. 

That is the access the Rural Storytelling Toolkit hopes to provide. Developed through a UND CONNECT Grant, the educational resource helps educators across rural North Dakota teach journalism, media literacy and community storytelling. 

Developed by UND Communication Assistant Professor Emily Gibbens-Buteau in partnership with the North Dakota Newspaper Association, the Rural Storytelling Toolkit was created in response to the decline of local journalism and media education in rural communities. 

The open educational resource provides ready-to-use lessons that educators can incorporate into any classroom. Each activity encourages students to explore various aspects of journalism while building critical thinking, ethical reporting, and responsible communication skills. 

Before the toolkit could reach classrooms across North Dakota, it needed a classroom to get started in. Working within the halls of O’Kelly Hall, UND’s TRIO Upward Bound program became that space. 

TRIO Upward Bound is a program funded through the U.S. Department of Education serving high school students preparing for postsecondary education. During the six-week summer program, the students — often the first members of their families to be considering college — live on campus while participating in academic courses and college readiness activities. 

When Gibbens-Buteau approached the program with the idea, Derek Sporbert, director of TRIO Programs at UND, said the project fit naturally within Upward Bound’s mission of preparing students for what comes next. 

“They’re here for five to six weeks in the summertime taking additional classes,” Sporbert said. “I think that kind of speaks loads to who they are.” 

Each Friday throughout the program is dedicated to a new area of career exploration. This summer, in recognition of Upward Bound’s 60th anniversary, one of those Fridays included the students telling their own stories.  

Graduate student Brenden Kimpe and Upward Bound alumni Jalen DeCoteau adapted the toolkit into a one-day workshop, introducing students to the various aspects of telling a story. Rather than introducing journalism as a career path alone, the workshop emphasized storytelling as a skill applicable across professions.

The toolkit gave students another way to explore future careers while strengthening communication skills they’ll carry into any profession. 

Students worked in small groups to interview peers, staff and alumni before producing short videos celebrating Upward Bound’s 60-year history.

Throughout the workshop, students discussed media literacy, recognizing misinformation and understanding the ethical responsibility that comes with telling someone else’s story. They learned to verify facts, use quotes honestly and avoid editing interviews in ways that change a speaker’s intended meaning.   

Kimpe encouraged students to approach interviews with curiosity and patience. 

“Interviewing can help us learn about new perspectives,” he told the class. “They can help us learn about new people and different places.” 

As part of the Rural Storytelling Toolkit, students were tasked with documenting the people and moments that have shaped Upward Bound over the past 60 years. In the process of preserving Upward Bound’s story, students became part of it themselves. The videos were shared during the program’s anniversary celebration. But few people embodied that history better than Resident Tutor Advisor Jalen DeCoteau. 

For DeCoteau, taking part in teaching those lessons carried an added layer of meaning. As an Upward Bound alum pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking at the University of Nebraska, DeCoteau returned to the UND program as a resident tutor advisor after spending years as a student. Now, he’s helping students sitting where he once sat learn how to tell stories of their own. 

His connection to Upward Bound extends beyond his own experience. His grandfather participated in the program decades ago, followed by DeCoteau, his brother, and now his younger sister. Once an Upward Bound student himself, DeCoteau now stands at the front of the classroom, helping the next generation tell their stories that will carry the program into its next 60 years. 

“We’re trying to teach the students how to tell stories honestly. You still want to be honest about who you’re writing about while still having a strong message,” DeCoteau said. 

For Upward Bound Bridge Coordinator  Kelly Kennedy, that’s exactly what made the partnership meaningful.

“We were already doing work like that,” she said. “We loved the idea of educating and giving everyone a chance to tell their stories.”