Campus to Campus Connections Conference with the Hale Street Gang

Global Campus participants from all corners of Vermont gathered at Chandler Music Hall in Randolph, VT on March 23rd for an all day Campus to Campus Connections Conference. As participants arrived they had the opportunity to browse the downstairs exhibit of the Hale Street Gang, a group of local seniors who get together each week to write down and share their life stories. The exhibit features life size black and white photographs of the seniors in the Hale Street Gang, as well as audio recordings of their stories and displays featuring their memoirs and books.

After browsing the gallery everyone gathered upstairs to hear members of the Hale Street Gang read excerpts from their memoirs and collections of stories. We were all captivated by the humorous and touching tales, some from long ago, some more recent. Dorcas Wright, a resource person for Global Campus Randolph and member of the Hale Street Gang, mentioned how touched she was to see her two passions in life coming together to meet and share each others life experiences. After a short refreshment break, Global Campus participants shared about their campuses, classes they are teaching, and stories about their own lives. Many folks also shared artwork. What a great collaboration!

In the afternoon, campus participants gathered at the Red Schoolhouse at Vermont Technical College to have lunch together. After eating, participants broke into groups with each group working together to create a fictional story based on a set of cards that sketched out the scene of a potential story. There were many laughs as we all shared our stories! The afternoon came to a close by sharing news from the various campuses and sharing a few new stories from participants who didn't have a chance to speak during the morning.

This conference was such a great success, thank you to everyone who participated!