Friday, December 9, 2011



A student-created video about Dolores Tole, a Dora resident. Video created by Kelcy Ross and Alexandra Brown.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Topaz Mill



This student-created video tells about Topaz Mill in Cabool, Missouri. Video created by Jesse Davison.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

The Big Sink



A sinkhole near Pottersville, Missouri brings up special memories for a Dora student (video by Tyler Long).

History of Dora School


Gina Hollingshad, who teaches fourth grade at Dora Elementary, compiled a history of the Dora School. To access the PDF of her article, follow this link: Dora School History

Friday, November 4, 2011

Water-Witching



Brittany Strong's video about water witching, a technique for locating underground water sources.  Created using Windows Moviemaker.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Loring Cemetery


Loring Cemetery from Zachary Hamby on Vimeo.

The Ozarks Folklore class took a trip to an old Civil War gravesite called Loring Cemetery. 

Honor Students Take a Hike



On Friday, October 7th, 2011, Honor students from Dora High School paid a visit to the Devil's Backbone Wilderness Area. Their goal was to experience nature and write about their experiences. In English class they read the writings of two great American thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, who drew inspiration for their writing from nature. One of most Thoreau's famous writings is Walden, which he wrote while living in a cabin on Walden Pond. The students took an hour and a half hike experiencing the sights and sounds of the Mark Twain National Forest. They saw the trees in their beautiful autumn colors and made some new friends. Then they re-boarded the bus for a short ride to Hammond Mill Campground, where they spent some time writing about nature.

"Meaning of Life"
by Cameron Foster, Jesse Davison, and Alex Davault

Fall makes everything peaceful
All thought exits my mind
There is stillness in the air
No human sounds at all
In the quiet of Nature
The Meaning of Life comes to me
Take life slowly.

"Quiet"
by Katlyn Smith, Summer Smith, and Autumn Collins

In the quiet of nature
All thought exits my mind
Nothing but the sheer beauty of nature
There is stillness in the air
The sun casts shadows
The dead leaves fall to the ground
A wild fire of fall colors
Winter is coming

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Meet the Storytellers

For our first assignment in Ozarks Folklore, the students were paired up with a classmate. They were to create a 1-2 minute biographical video about their partner. The goal was to familiarize the students with the equipment before they begin their first digital stories about the Ozarks. Below are the results.

Jesse Davison from Zachary Hamby on Vimeo.




Friday, September 9, 2011

Our Storytelling Tools

Since our project is digital storytelling, we will use a variety of technology to complete it.  Some of our equipment includes the following:  Flip cameras, lapel microphones, digital cameras, flash drives, digital voice recorders, a scanner, a printer, and a classroom set of laptops.  The film-making software we will be using is Adobe Premiere 9.  All this technology is made possible by a grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and the Dora R-III School Foundation.  Thank you to our sponsors!

Dora Digital Stories

Dora High School received a $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks to sponsor a course entitled Ozarks Folklore. Our classroom has a variety of technology on-hand for our use. Our goal is to create a series of short documentaries related to the Ozarks. These could be on a variety of topics including historical (mills, the first Ozarks settlers, local Native American tribes, the impact of the Civil War on the Ozarks, Baldknobbers, the history of a particular community, log-rollers, etc.), cultural (dialect, place names, folk remedies, local folk tales, ghost stories, etc.), personal interest (the history of a family member born and raised in the Ozarks), or even scientific (varieties of Ozark vegetation, caves or sinkholes, knobs, river wildlife, etc.). With every project interviews and original photographs or video will be a major factor. These elements will culminate in a “digital story,” a presentation combining audio and video, that outlines your findings. This digital story will be produced on a computer using Adobe Premiere. The students will present their digital stories at a special after-school film festival, where they will narrate their experiences with the project and show their digital story. The community will be invited to attend this presentation.