Many residents in senior living communities have countless inspiring stories to tell, but it is not every day they get to witness these personal experiences come to life on screen and transformed from spoken word into motion animated artwork. Using the skills that they learned in their college career, senior animation students at Sam Houston State University paired up with residents at Carriage Inn – Huntsville to make that happen.
For Jonathan Bryson, an animation professor at SHSU, impactful storytelling through animation has always been a passion. His desire to work closely with others to tell their stories drove him to explore university programs that promote working collaboratively with the community. That is what led him to Academic Community Engagement (ACE) courses.
Bryson felt compelled to reach out to senior living communities in Huntsville. He knew the key to a successful ACE experience was a strong partnership. It just so happened that the perfect person for this partnership was the first person to respond: SHSU alumna and Director of Life Enrichment at Carriage Inn – Huntsville, Tracey Holbrook.
Together, Holbrook and Bryson created an ACE experience where students would apply their animation skills after conducting life history interviews with residents to bring their stories to life.
The residents and staff at the Carriage Inn – Huntsville were equally enthusiastic about the outcome of the final presentations.
