Storytelling Open Mic Featuring Al Cjieka

Al Ciejka earned his master’s degrees from Albany State and Union College. He taught junior high math for 35 years in Saratoga, where he also coached youth sport teams. Al’s storytelling journey began in his 1956 yellow Thunderbird telling tales to his grandchildren. Fridays in Saratoga with Nana and Grandpa included not only adventures (no phones allowed) but also a short story told in the car, always with a moral ending. One night when there was a shortage of tellers at Open Mic Storytelling, Jeannine Laverty said, “Al, you are telling tonight.” Now Al is a regular and integral teller at the open mic night regaling the community with historical and personal tales. Most recently, Al has coached new tellers for the Caffe Lena’s annual TrueSongs program, which showcases six comeback stories that could never have happened without the support of Capital District nonprofits.