University & Community Collaboration: “Roots with Wings”: Floyd County, Virginia, Place-based Education Oral History Project, A Youth Resiliency Effort

Radford University students in the Appalachian Teaching Project class, APST495/595: Research in Appalachia, will develop teaching materials for use in the Floyd County place-based education oral history project, “Roots with Wings,” to strengthen the capacity of Floyd County’s youth, as well as Radford University student mentors, and to become more consciously connected to their community through intergenerational dialogue. Partners at Floyd County High School and Floyd Story Center have identified a need for hands-on learning materials to provide high school students with a more sophisticated understanding of their community’s resources and strengths. Youth taught to capture the wisdom of elders learn lessons of past hardships, as well as the elders’ coping skills to overcome those hardships. The “Roots with Wings” Project uses technology to foster these connections. As a result, both the RU students, who serve as mentors, and the Floyd County High School students gain a greater degree of mastery over a variety of communication and technology skills, such as interviewing, digital recording and editing, and public speaking