[ OFF-SITE PROJECT: DIFFERENT PROGRAM DATES + STIPENDS ] Skylar Shelton is growing up in a community in Appalachian North Carolina called Laurel. She is being raised by her grandmother, who is an elderly woman struggling to make ends meet on social security. Skylar is heir to a rich culture, but also to the intergenerational poverty that has also been an Appalachian legacy. The Partnership for Appalachian Girls’ Education (‘PAGE’) was founded to help create ladders for opportunity for girls living in distressed rural communities such as Laurel. Its mission is to inspire and empower rural girls and young women through innovative education.

This Story+ project is focused on empowering girls in Appalachia through digital storytelling. Our project begins with team training in the process of digital storytelling on Duke Campus, then moves to Madison County, North Carolina to work with Appalachian girls. Our Duke team will reside on the campus of Mars Hill University but work with girls in grades 6-7 from across this rural county. Our goals are threefold: to provide team training in the process of digital storytelling; to facilitate the production of multi-media digital projects by Appalachian girls in grades 6-7; and to do post-production work that helps create a wider audience for the stories.