A Gift Of Storytelling: Oyster Bay Students Preserve Seniors’ Stories In Living History Project

OYSTER BAY, NY — Oyster Bay High School students recently gave the gift of storytelling to local seniors, creating keepsakes that preserve living history.

Students produced a series of mini biographical video packages highlighting the seniors’ personal journeys — documentaries that can now be shared with future generations.

The students, enrolled in multimedia journalism teacher Alex Dollin's Digital Reporting class, partnered with senior members of the Life Enrichment Center in Oyster Bay for this project.

Each student interviewed a senior and produced a completed video package, applying journalism skills such as interviewing, filming, scriptwriting, narration and editing.

The participating seniors — Bob Goodyear, Peggy Ricciardi, Inge Amian, and Katherine Gibson — shared powerful, firsthand accounts that ranged from service in Vietnam and memories of hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor to witnessing 9/11 and living with blindness.

After several months of work, the four finished films were screened in the OBHS auditorium, where the seniors were honored guests at a celebration of both their stories and the students’ efforts.