Two Rainbow School Board teachers will pitch an idea to board officials on May 8 that could revolutionize the way seniors and students regard each other.
Kathy LeBreton and Camille Dupuis want more Rainbow students to have the experience their students had with seniors this school year.
Last fall, LeBreton ran the Intergenerational Memories Project, which involved history students and seniors living at Finlandia Nursing Home.
LeBreton mentored Dupuis as she ran a similar program this spring for French immersion students and residents of Lasalle Residence, an assisted living facility for French-speaking seniors.
In both programs, students were paired up, then introduced to a senior. The students interviewed the senior about his or her life, then created a scrapbook filled with photographs and artifacts.
The outcome transcended the hardcover book. On May 7, as the students presented their books, it was clear they and the seniors had become quite close.
"It changed our outlook on senior citizens," said Michael Kenny, 16. "They have a voice. It's a voice of memory. They look forward to the future. It's very refreshing."
When the students and seniors first met, they sat sizing each other up, just like any group meeting for the first time.
The teachers led them through some icebreakers, LeBreton said. "Each had to share a story about an outhouse."
The more the seniors got to know the students, the more the stereotypes about young people melted away.
The program was a win-win on both sides, said Lasalle Secondary School principal Craig Runciman. "They're closing that generational gap."
Lasalle Residence activities co-ordinator Linda Manion said the program gave seniors aged 75 to 93 the chance to reminisce. "It makes them feel important again."
