Nov 10, 2003 By: yunews
New York, NY, Nov 10, 2003 -- It is said that stories shape our lives. And for Peninnah Schram, associate professor of speech and drama at Stern College for Women, the stories her parents told her as a child influenced her life鈥攁nd her profession.
鈥淚 heard stories all my life but never thought about storytelling as a profession,鈥 Professor Schram said recently. 鈥淏ut intuitively, I think I wanted to tell these stories.鈥
The author of seven books of Jewish folktales and a CD of six Jewish folktales called The Minstrel and the Storyteller, Professor Schram received the National Storytelling Network鈥檚 (NSN) Lifetime Achievement Award at its national conference in Chicago in July.
鈥淚t was the most thrilling experience,鈥 she said about receiving the award. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe it. I was speechless; breathless.鈥
Professor Schram arrived at Stern in 1969 after teaching speech at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, for two years, and after meeting Prof. Abraham Tauber, former head of Yeshiva College鈥檚 speech and drama department. She was offered a job at SCW and 鈥渋mmediately accepted.鈥
In the mid-1970鈥檚, Professor Schram began teaching a storytelling course at Stern at the request of SCW dean, Dr. David Mirsky, and was recording books for the Jewish Braille Institute of America in Manhattan. Professor Schram also became involved with the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE) as the first coordinator of its Jewish Storytelling Network and started the Jewish Storytelling Center at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.
In her 34-year ca
"Someone once said I tell in technicolor. And I love that."
reer at YU, Professor Schram has taught Jewish storytelling at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration in addition to her teaching at Stern and her involvement in various YU committees.
鈥淚 love the students, the New York City location, and the atmosphere and environment,鈥 she said of her tenure at Stern College. 鈥淚t has been a place that not only allowed me to grow as a teacher in my field of communication, but also nurtured my interests in Jewish storytelling and allowed me to develop as a professional storyteller.鈥
Professor Schram鈥檚 most recent book, Stories Within Stories: From the Jewish Oral Tradition, received the Westchester Library System鈥檚 Anne Izard Storytellers鈥 Choice Book Award in 2003, and her book, Chosen Tales: Stories Told by Jewish Sorytellers, received the 1995 National Jewish Book Award in the Folklore category. Professor Schram has received numerous accolades for her storytelling, including New York City鈥檚 Jewish Woman in the Arts (2000), the NSN Circle of Excellence Award (1999) and Regional Leadership Award (1989), Covenant Foundation鈥檚 Award for Outstanding Jewish Educator (1995), the Hadassah Myrtle Wreath Award for Contribution to Continuing Jewish Culture as Teacher, Storyteller, Author, and Recording Artist (1990), and SCW鈥檚 Teacher of the Year Award (1974).
Dr. Karen Bacon, the Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of Stern College, referred to Professor Schram as a 鈥渉ousehold name in the area of Jewish storytelling.鈥
鈥淲e are indeed fortunate that she makes Stern College her home,鈥 she said. 鈥淪he continues to inspire generations of students with her energy and her passion for the spoken word.鈥
NSN executive director Nancy Kavanaugh said she has admired Professor Schram since they first met in the mid-1980s at a storytelling conference in Atlanta.
鈥淧eninnah is generous with her knowledge and gracious in sharing her years of research and study with everyone,鈥 Ms. Kavanaugh said. 鈥淧eninnah鈥檚 works ripple through the storytelling community in endless ways.鈥
According to Steven Siegel, library director at the 92nd Street Y, Professor Schram is not only widely known for her Jewish storytelling, but also for her general storytelling.
"She鈥檚 made her presence known and has been kind of a Jewish storyteller ambassador to the non-Jewish world,鈥 he said. 鈥淪he has helped us plan programs and she has tremendous knowledge of who is 鈥榦ut there鈥 in terms of potential storytelling instructors.鈥
Storytelling seems to be an inherited gift for Professor Schram, who passed down her love of the Jewish oral tradition to her children. Her son, Mordechai, attends the Jewish Theological Seminary鈥檚 cantorial program and is a cantor at the West End Synagogue in Manhattan. Her daughter, Rebecca, who teaches high school English in Israel, also has a gift for telling stories.
鈥淚 grew up in a musical environment,鈥 Professor Schram said, referring to her father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, all cantors. 鈥淚 think I use my voice very much in a musical mode. Someone once said I tell in technicolor, and I love that.鈥
