Youth Voice
Students identify the stories that matter to them and shape the words, images, artwork, and media used to share those experiences.
Kids Share Workshops Archive
Published Books & StoryLab Archive
Two decades of youth voice, creativity, and cross-cultural connection
From classrooms to communities, StoryLabs support young people in sharing their lived experiences through art, writing, film, photography, and digital storytelling.
Some workshops culminated in published books. Others became murals, short films, blogs, and online media. Together, these projects form a lasting record shaped by young people’s own voices, priorities, and creative choices.
What Is a StoryLab?
Stories Created With Young People, Not About Them
StoryLabs are youth-led learning experiences where students explore identity, culture, environment, and community. The process centers authorship, collaboration, and the belief that young people should help decide how their lives and communities are represented.
Creative Learning
Writing, visual art, photography, film, music, and movement create multiple pathways for expression, confidence, and authorship.
Lasting Connection
Books, murals, films, and digital archives preserve local stories while building thoughtful connections between students and communities.
Newest to Oldest
StoryLab Timeline
Explore projects spanning Nepal, West Africa, Southern Africa, Central America, India, and the United States.
May 2025 · Nepal
Jalapadevi Secondary School, Sindhupalchok
In partnership with EF Education First
Students explored daily life, traditions, and community through storytelling, art, English-language learning, and short films—documenting their world through the Kids Share curriculum and youth-led media practices.
April 2022 · Togo, West Africa
I Am Togolese; Who Am I?
Identity, faith, belonging, collaborative books, and murals
A multilingual StoryLab focused on personal and collective identity through writing, art, and cultural exchange. Young people explored what it means to define oneself within a family, community, culture, and shared social landscape.
April 2018 · Zambia
I Am Zambian; Who Am I?
A published collection celebrating cultural pride and identity
Children collaborated to document their lives, identities, and hopes through art, writing, film, photography, song, and movement. The published collection centered the voices and creative decisions of its young authors.
The project reflects daily realities—including long walks to school, household responsibilities, and limited resources—while also preserving resilience, joy, community pride, and visions for the future.
April 2013 & April 2015 · Newtown, Connecticut
Kids Share Newtown & Totem Stories
Art, writing, healing, meaning-making, and hope
Following collective trauma, community children created symbolic totems, artwork, and reflective stories with the support of volunteers, professional therapists, educators, artists, and families.
These projects offered creative space for expression and connection while preserving the voices of children living through an extraordinarily difficult period.
March 2012 · Costa Rica & Vermont
The Nature of Our Stories
Escuela Peters Public School
Students collaborated on nature-based storytelling that honored biodiversity, resilience, shared environmental heritage, and the relationship between place and identity.
February 2011 · Guatemala & Vermont
Connecting Cultures Through Story
Bilingual stories, photography, artwork, and friendship
Rural youth and peers in the United States exchanged bilingual stories, photographs, and artwork to explore heritage, language, daily life, and cross-cultural connection.
Phoebe, Kristina Applegate’s daughter, with Vivi in Panajachel, Guatemala.
January 2010 · Nicaragua & Vermont
An Early Cross-Border Story Exchange
San Ramón, Nicaragua and Vermont, USA
Students shared community stories through writing and art, creating an early model for cross-cultural exchange and laying part of the foundation for the StoryLab approach.
November 2008 & October 2009 · India & Vermont
Tibetan Children’s Villages
The first Kids Share Workshops
Tibetan youth in India connected with students in Vermont to explore belonging, culture, friendship, and daily life through shared writing, artwork, photography, and storytelling.
This early exchange established the central principle that continues to guide StoryBridge today: young people are not merely subjects of a story—they are its authors.
From Workshop to Published Record
Books Created for Young Authors and Their Communities
Where projects culminated in books, the goal was never simply to produce a publication. The book became a lasting object that young authors, families, schools, and communities could hold, revisit, and share.
These publications preserve personal stories and collective memory while affirming that young people’s perspectives deserve thoughtful attention and a place in the historical record.
Published StoryLab Books
Explore Kids Share Books on Amazon
Selected books from earlier StoryLabs are available through the Kids Share Amazon author page. Purchases help keep these youth-authored stories visible and support the continued mission of Kids Share Workshops and StoryBridge.
Continue the Story
Partner With or Sponsor a Future StoryLab
StoryLabs continue to evolve through the voices of young people and the communities they call home. Universities, educators, artists, filmmakers, and supporters are invited to help create future opportunities for youth-led storytelling across cultures.
Follow current cultural storytelling, StoryLab moments, and life in the field through StoryBridge Nepal.