McGuffey society honoring storyteller

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
R. REGINA REES HAS always had an interest in oral history. Her knack for storytelling and her commitment to literacy education has garnered her the first William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society Pioneer Award.
Rees, an assistant professor and teacher in the Beeghly College of Education at Youngstown State University, was honored at a society ceremony Tuesday in McKay Auditorium at YSU.
The award is designed to recognize a person who has shown significant contributions and leadership in the field of education or historic preservation, said Richard S. Scarsella, society president.
When the society came up with the idea for the award this year, Rees was clearly at the top of the list of likely recipients, he said, calling her "The Professional McGuffey Society Storyteller."
She's been working with the society since 1998.
"When he called me [with news of the honor], I was so shocked, so surprised," Rees said.
She said she likes to take the essence of a story from a McGuffey Reader and put her personal touch to it, telling the story in her own words while making sure her listeners get the original intent of the piece.
"They're such dear stories that a lot of them begged to be told," she said.
Rees performs as the official McGuffey Storyteller several times a year but also offers the service on her own and doesn't limit herself to stories from the McGuffey Reader.
"I really like that oral tradition," she said, noting that the McGuffey Historical Society is trying to keep a little piece of history alive.
"I appreciate being a part of that," she said.
New project
Rees said she started a project this summer with children attending Youngstown State University's SMARTS [Students Motivated by the Arts] Center, introducing them to McGuffey stories and having them modernize the pieces to fit today's world.
The project went so well that it will be repeated this fall, she said.
William Holmes McGuffey grew up here, living on the family homestead on what is now McGuffey Road.
He published his first McGuffey Reader in 1836, and it and subsequent editions became America's No. 1 educational primer for decades. It was still being used in classrooms in the early 1960s.
Nine descendants of the McGuffey family are now members of the local society, the last of its kind in the United States, Scarsella said.
gwin@vindy.com