Mary has completed her Associate Diploma in Speech Arts and Drama from the Mount Royal College Conservatory AMRC and the Royal Conservatory of Toronto ARCT.

She is a member of Storytellers of Canada, is on the executive of TALES (The Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling) and a founding member of TALES Calgary. Mary is also a member of CANSCAIP - Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers.

Mary produced a storytelling CD, "A Collection of Tales," that featured 13 Alberta storytellers.

Mary has directed several plays: Family Album, The Kidnapping of Nellie McClung, Departures and Arrivals by Carol Shields and A Guide to Mourning by Eugene Stickland. Her youth theatre group the Traveling Talesm'n have played to full houses for each production.

Mary completed a Readers Theatre summer course in London, England offered by the University of Southern Maine and the Institute for Readers Theatre of San Diego.

She was pleased to be a special presenter and performer at the Storytellers of Canada, (SC/CC)  Conference in Regina, Calgary and Halifax.

Mary was a featured storyteller at the Congresso Internacional de Leitura e Literatura Infantil - Children's Literature Congress held in Presidente Prudente, Sao Paulo State, Brazil in 2004. She was also a guest lecturer on the topic of Storytelling - A Literacy Tool at the UNESP, University of Sao Paulo - Presidente Prudente campus.

Storymary was a consultant and performer on the 6 video series called "Check It Out" produced for the Library Information Program at SAIT.

Her Readers Theatre Scripts are available through U-Otter-Read-It. Mary's family story, The Queen and I was published by Red Deer Press in the books of stories, "Under The Wide Blude Sky - Alberta Stories to Read and Tell" ed. Lisa Hurst Archer.

Mary combines storytelling, piano and vocal harmony in her work with the musical group, SPECIAL BLEND. She performs with Helen Entwistle and Bob King. They present historical stories, family stories and seasonal programs.

To celebrate Alberta's Centenial in 2005, Mary was commissioned to write, direct and present the play, "The Battle of Olds". The play about local Olds history featured 15 youthful actors.

Mary was pleased to be chosen from a roster of Canadian storytellers to travel to Quebec to tell stories on the TD Canadian Children's Book Week Tour in 2006. Mary proesented 15 sessions in schools and libraries in Montreal and Lennoxville.

Mary has enjoyed the experience as workshop facilitator and guest storyteller for the following groups:

  • CBC Radio - Day Break
  • Adult Literacy -Project Read Soon
  • Alberta Library Association Conference
  • Alberta Middle School Convention
  • B.C. Middle School Convention
  • Calgary Winter Festival
    Canmore Children's Festival
  • Coquitlam Teachers' Association
  • Cold Lake & District Library
  • County of Flagstaff Music Festival
  • Edmonton Public Library
    Grande Prairie T A. Conference
  • Greater Edmonton Teachers' Convention Home School Association
  • Horizon Village Seniors
  • LODE Women's Group, Womens' Institute
  • Kiwanis Music Festival - Calgary
  • Lethbridge Storytelling Festival Library and Informational Technology Program (SALT)
  • Marigold Regional Library
  • Pacific Northwest Library Association
  • Palliser District Teachers' Convention Parkland Regional Library Fort Calgary Museum
    Readers Theatre International
  • Saskatchewan Library Association
  • Stettler Music Festival
  • Slave Lake Municipal Library Northeast Teachers' Convention
    ... and many other schools, school libraries and public libraries across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
  • Storytellers of Canada - SC/CC
  • UNESP - University of Sao Paulo, Presidente Prudente, Brazil

RESUME

Mary Hays

5418, 46 Street

Olds, Alberta, Canada

T4H 1B8

Phone (403) 556-2818

Fax (403) 556-3292

storymary@hotmail.com

Education:

  • University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta - 1977
  • Bachelor of Education
  • SAIT - Calgary, Alberta - 1992
  • Small Libraries Certificate - Honours
  • Mount Royal College Conservatory, Calgary, Alberta - 1997
  • Associate Diploma, Speech Arts - Top Achievement Award
  • Royal Conservatory of Music - Toronto - 1997
  • Associate Diploma Speech Arts and Drama – Silver Medallist
  • Readers Theatre Institute - London, England - 2000
  • University of Southern Maine

Work Experience:

  •  Instructor of Storytelling, SAIT Library and Information Technology (1995 - present)
  • Guest storyteller and lecturer UNESP, University of Sao Paulo, Presidente Prudente, Brazil (August, 2004)
  • Presenter and performer Storytellers of Canada, (SC/CC)  Conference in Regina, Calgary and Halifax -( 2004, 2005, 2006)
  • Storytelling and the Social Studies Curriculum - Chinooks Edge School Division (Spring 2006)
  • Storytelling Consultant and Performer – Twilight Pictures, Storytelling Videos (2001 – 2002)
  • Producer and Performer – A Collection of TALES – Storytelling CD (2001)
  • President of TALES - The Alberta League Encouraging Storytelling - (2000 - 2001)
  • Co-Chair of TALES Calgary
  • Co-Producer of Calgary Storytelling Festival 2001, 2002
  • Fort Calgary Museum - Consultant and Storyteller (1998 - 2002)
    Speech Arts Studio (1994 - present)
  • Speech Arts Adjudicator - Calgary (1996), High River (2001), MRC Applause (2002), Drayton Valley (2002)
  • Freelance Storyteller - Consultant and Workshop Presenter (1991 - present)
  • Olds Municipal Library - Program Director (1985 - 1991)
  • County of Mountain View School Division (1977 - 1981) Teacher, Grades 3 and 6

Recordings:

  • Big Breakfast TV Show - Sept 8, 1998
  • Radio FM Calgary - July 1, 1999
  • Biblical Readers Theatre - Training Video - March, 1999
  • CBC Radio – Heritage Program August 9, 2001 and Day Break – November, 2001 and July 2005
  • A Collection of TALES CD – November 2001 - Storyteller and Producer
  • Check It Out – 6 Video Series including two storytelling videos – Twilight Pictures
  • Global TV – Sept. 2002
  • Shaw TV– Nov. 2002

Guest Storyteller:

  • Lethbridge Storytelling Festival - 1998, 2000
  • East Coulee Folk Festival - 2001
  • Calgary Storytelling Festival – 2001, 2002 – Co – Producer and Teller
  • Cochrane Children's Festival - 2000, 2001
  • Calgary Winter Festival - 2000
  • University of Calgary, Children's Literature Conference - TALES of the Folk Concert - July 6, 1999
  • Tellabration Concert - 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 - Co-Producer
  • Strathcona Storytellers Retreat - April, 2001
  • Hawkwood School – Residency - 2002
  • Storytellers of Canada, (SC/CC)  Conference in Regina, Saskatchewan.
  • Congresso Internacional de Leitura e Literatura Infantil, Childrens Literature Congress, Presidente Prudente, Brazil (August, 2004)
  • Okotoks Storytelling Festival (2006)
  • Summer Reading Program - Parkland Regional Libraries (Summer, 2006)
  • TALES Fort Edmonton Storytelling Festival (September, 2006)
  • TD Canadian Children's Book Week Tour - Montreal and Lennoxville, Quebec ( November, 2006)

Memberships:

  • TALES - Alberta
  • Storytellers of Canada – SC/CC
  • CANSCAIP - Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers
  • Alberta Library Association
  • Chinook Country Historical Society
  • Olds and District Performing Arts Festival
  • Olds United Church

Publications

Books:

  • Prairie Pearls - 1998
  • Recollections Trails and Tales of Coburn -July, 2002
  • Invitation to Readers Theatre - 2001 (CD)
  • Three collections of Readers Theatre Scripts – Adapted by Mary Hays and Helen Raczuk: A Royal Collection – Four Royal Folktales, Silly Solutions and Animal Tales
  • Stories Around The World – Adapted By Mary Hays
  • The Queen and I - Under the Wide Blue Sky - Alberta Stories to Read and Tell, ed Lisa Hurst Archer - Published by Red Deer Press, 2005

    Articles:

  • Taleteller - Reflections on Storytelling
  • Multimedia Storytelling - Brazil
  • Paulista Publisher, Brazil - Storytelling in the Classroom

  • Videos:

  • Check It Out – Storytelling Video – Twilight Pictures. Nominated for the Best Educational Video by AMPIA.

Workshop Presentations:

  • Adult Literacy - Project Read Soon
  • Alberta Library Conference
  • Chinooks Edge School Division
  • Saskatchewan Library Conference
  • B.C. Middle School Conference
  • Coquitlam, B.C. Teachers Conference
  • Edmonton Public Library
  • Marigold Regional Library
  • Parkland Regional Library
  • Pacific Northwest Library Association
  • Readers Theatre International
  • Palliser Teachers Conference
  • Edmonton Teachers Conference
  • Northeast Teachers Conference
  • Northwest Teachers Conference
  • Stettler Music Festival
  • Flagstaff Music Festival
  • Mount Royal College Conservatory
  • Plains Indian Cultural Center
  • Fort Calgary Museum
  • Museums Alberta
  • TALES - Calgary
  • Chinook's Edge School Division

Workshop Topics:

  • Traditional Storytelling
  • Tell Your Story - Family History
  • Storytelling and The Social Studies Curriculum
  • Multimedia Storytelling
  • Shadow Puppets
  • Readers Theatre
  • Readers Theatre - Script Adaptation
  • Vocal Care for Teachers
  • Festival Performance - Something for Everyone
  • Innovative Library Programs
  • Early Literacy - Stories and Rhymes From The Story Bag
  • Storytelling - Second Language Instruction
  • Playing with Poetry
  • Storytelling Library Programs
  • Stories and Rhymes from the Story Bag
  • Stories from Around the World
  • Trickster Tales
  • Grandma Stories
  • Stories of Scotland
  • Scandinavian Stories
  • Alberta - The Early Years Remembrance Day
  • Nellie McClung Jean McWilliams - Early Calgarian
  • Ordinary Women - Extraordinary Courage

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