{"id":123205,"date":"2020-07-21T14:03:14","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T00:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=123205"},"modified":"2020-08-07T12:37:31","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T22:37:31","slug":"storyteller-enhances-online-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/07\/21\/storyteller-enhances-online-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi-born storyteller enhances online education for lifelong learners nationwide"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

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What started as talk story sessions for University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa Osher Lifelong Learning Institute<\/a> (OLLI<\/abbr>) participants, turned into a national virtual “tour” for a prominent Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>-born storyteller.<\/p>\n

OLLI<\/abbr> Director Carole Mandryk<\/strong> heard of the story “Pigs from the Sea,” which is based on the devastated people of Okinawa receiving a gift of aloha from the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> people after World War II<\/abbr>. However, she had not heard Alton Takiyama-Chung<\/strong>\u2019s version. She reached out to him and quickly learned that he would be happy to share his stories with her OLLI<\/abbr> members.<\/p>\n

OLLI<\/abbr> and Takiyama-Chung<\/h2>\n
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Alton Takiyama-Chung<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Housed in the College of Social Sciences<\/a> and administered through UH<\/abbr> Foundation<\/a>, OLLI<\/abbr> is member-based, encouraging lifelong learning to engage minds, enrich lives and serve the community. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mandryk transitioned many activities online and recently expanded to more than 40 non-credit, college-level courses, workshops, lectures and other learning activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Takiyama-Chung is a Honolulu native and master storyteller. He specializes in sharing cultural tales and personal stories related to his childhood in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, and his Japanese and Korean roots. In the months before the COVID-19 pandemic, Takiyama-Chung performed and taught in India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Seattle and Oregon. His two exclusive online summer workshops to OLLI<\/abbr> members in June and early July were on telling your own stories and the 100th Battalion\/442nd Regimental Combat Team.<\/p>\n

Since then, Mandryk has shared his talents with other OLLI<\/abbr> networks nationwide, and Takiyama-Chung has made virtual presentations through events hosted by organizations in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, Oregon and Washington, D.C.<\/abbr> Mandryk said the interest has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Claudia Kamiyama<\/strong> said, “I’ve been watching all these performances since our workshop with Alton and telling everyone about him. The stories really touch a special place with me, since I’ve been researching my Chinese ancestors who have been in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> since the 1880s and before, and my Okinawan ancestors since the early 1900s.”<\/p>\n

Karen St. Onge<\/strong> commented, “I truly enjoyed Alton Chung’s storytelling, and feel it is truly an art to be able to bring people to the actual scene, and draw his listeners to invoke emotions.”<\/p>\n

Jean Hamakawa<\/strong> called the talks “very moving and informative.”<\/p>\n

For Takiyama-Chung, an unforgettable moment came during a workshop when he taught participants how to share their own stories.<\/p>\n

“The most memorable moment for me was when I saw how much fun people were having in my workshop,” Takiyama-Chung said. “It was that ‘Aha!’ moment, when they shared a little story from their life with someone else, realized that the other person was engaged, that it was easy, and that they were having a good time.”<\/p>\n

Upcoming events<\/h2>\n

You can still watch online talks by Takiyama-Chung available to the public. They include:<\/p>\n