The Wondermedia Story Maker Camp is off to a fantastic start at Oneida Middle School, welcoming both middle and high school students into an immersive storytelling experience. This innovative program was designed to reduce student absenteeism, boost classroom engagement, and ignite a love for reading and writing by empowering students to become digital storytellers.

Using the Story Maker platform, students are writing, recording, animating, and producing their very own short animated films. With access to a rich digital library of characters, backgrounds, music, and sound effects, participants are bringing their narratives to life—developing creative, collaborative, and technical skills along the way.

This summer’s camp project centers around creating short films that share Oneida PRIDE and offer social-emotional learning tips for incoming middle and high school students. The stories also integrate strategies from the Writing Revolution, giving students a solid foundation in structured writing while they express their ideas in fun and meaningful ways.

"Story Maker is very fun, and we get to do a lot of animation and cool stuff." -Lilah, OCSD 8th Grader

"Story Maker is something that we do lots of animation with. You can do a lot of fun stuff with it. -Lily, OCSD 7th Grader

"It's a different summer program that's really fun. Just being able to take Oneida PRIDE and put that into a teenager's view is really cool." - Kristina, OCSD Junior

"It's very interesting to be able to help incoming freshmen who might feel out of place and still be able to write." - Lilly, OCSD Sophomore

The camp is made possible thanks to the dedication and training of OSMS staff, who completed 12 hours of professional development in preparation for this program. Special thanks to Counselor Stephanie Burke; Alicia DeGroat, 6th Grade English; Rebecca Piccola, 6th Grade Social Studies; Kristen Hicks and Kristin Germond, 7th and 8th Grade AIS; and retired High School English teacher Tom Kirkpatrick for their leadership and support.

Through Story Maker, students are exploring the real-world applications of writing, learning the power of teamwork and creative problem-solving, and discovering the joy of storytelling in a whole new format. It's more than just a camp—it's a launchpad for confident, engaged learners.