A tale on a trail: Janet Kahn School unveils its Story Stroll project

Terri Gaussoin, a librarian at the Janet Kahn School of Integrated Arts, couldn’t help but laugh when asked about her preparations for the Story Stroll trail project on Thursday night.

She said she installed 25 new panels around the athletic track of the school, near Indian School and Eubank in Northeast Albuquerque, over the course of two days to “make sure everything was clear, ready and beautiful.” But the dreary weather on Thursday forced her to re-beautify her work.

The weather hiccup didn’t seem to matter — the skies were clear Thursday night, leaving Gaussoin to marvel at what she helped create: a trail of panels telling the story of a local author in an effort to promote literacy and physical activity.

The Story Stroll concept, popular in the eastern and midwestern U.S., is believed to be the first of its kind in New Mexico, Albuquerque Public Schools officials said.

“It’s a dream come true,” Gaussoin said. “I love seeing families and kids together out here reading and playing and being together.”

The project was made possible through a $28,627 grant from the APS Education Foundation. Thursday’s event was described as the official unveiling of the project, even though it launched last school year.

The panels tell the story of “The Sunflowers: Vincent van Gogh’s Search for Beauty” by author Zahra Marwan. The book tells the story of the artist’s life and his love of painting sunflowers, while also imparting lessons to youth.

“It’s a story about Vincent’s connection with other people, his friends and with following his heart,” Gaussoin said, “following something he felt passionate about, even when other people may not have felt the same way.”

“That’s definitely a message we want to instill in our children: to follow their hearts, and to follow their dreams and to look to their friends and family when they need that kind of support,” she said.

The Story Stroll includes three park benches that were installed along the beginning, middle and end of the story. A Little Library was also installed in the trail for families to take home books for free.

Gaussoin noted that her project was inspired by Anne Ferguson, a former chronic disease prevention specialist for the Vermont Department of Health, who created “StoryWalks” as a way to help families get outside for physical activity.

Gaussoin’s project aimed to examine three key concepts: shared literacy, through reading aloud; physical activity; and getting families outside.

“I’m a librarian — I think everyone needs to read more,” she said with a laugh. “I think everyone can benefit from increased physical activity.”

In her grant application, Gaussoin cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s healthy school practices, which the agency says leads to positive outcomes for students, including better test scores and behavior.

“Hopefully, we will bring them back (to the Story Stroll) because we’ll change the story every month,” Gaussoin said.

Gaussoin also cited a 2022-23 APS survey that found that the majority of families feel safe in their child’s school.

”We already had a way to bring them in because they feel like they can come,” she said.

But, Gaussoin said, only 35.4% of students scored proficient in English Language Arts. The number dropped significantly for low-income or non-white students, she said.

New Mexico Summative Assessment results on APS’ website show that proficiency in ELA among certain Janet Kahn students has fluctuated over the years. Just 21.5% of K-5 students scored proficiently during the 2021-22 school year; 27% of the same group scored proficiently during the 2022-23 school year; and 23.8% of K-6 students scored proficiently during the 2023-24 school year.

Gaussoin believes her project could bring up those figures.

“We can do (improve test scores) by building family literacy,” she said.

Parents and grandparents took their time to read each panel, some of them animatedly doing so for the youth who tagged along with them.

Janet Kahn School grandparent Monalisa Henley, who brought her granddaughter and grandson to the school on Thursday, said she liked the trail project.

“It’s cute; it’s a cute story, too,” Henley said.

She agreed youth, including her grandchildren, need to spend more time engaging in physical activity. Henley said Thursday’s event was a twofer because it allowed kids time to get outside and read.

Lyndsey Stephenson, a Janet Kahn School parent of four children, had worked as a school volunteer with Gaussoin before and knew the Story Stroll was coming. But this was the first time she was able to see the project.

“I think it’s really cool,” Stephenson said, noting she incorporated different physical movements between each panel of the story as a way for her pre-kindergarten son to be engaged in following the story.

Stephenson said both reading and physical activity are important to her family.

“We value reading together. But also, I think how restless my kids can get, and if they’re not able to move their bodies, it generally ends up looking like problematic behavior,” she said. “When they’re able to get it out in a healthy way, we’re able to treat each other more kindly.”

Story Stroll is open to the public Monday-Friday from 2:15 p.m.-7 p.m.