Friends School

The Friends’ School in Boulder has participated in our Youth & Elder program since 2006.  Mandy Stepanovsky has been involved since the spring of 2008.  This was the second year that these elementary school students from Friends’ School visited the elders at Frasier Meadows Retirement Community.  Last year Mandy arranged for the fourth graders to participate with Bessie’s Hope.  They began visiting with the elders once a month.  When she “moved up” with her fourth grade students as they became fifth graders (which is the model at Friends’ School), they were able to continue visiting the elders and forging deeper relationships with their grandpartners. 

While many students feel nervous and shy on their first few visits to nursing homes and assisted living facilities, the Friends’ school group learned to feel at home with the elders.  This was a great benefit of ongoing visits over their last two years of elementary school.  As you can see by the featured photo of Akasha (youth) and Olga (elder), both generations enjoyed their time together.  Hugs, hand holding, and smiles filled the room when the Friends’ School students visited.

For their last visit, the students brought posters for their grandpartners.  These included pictures of the elder with their student friend and information about the elders’ lives that was learned through ongoing interviews over many visits.  The students made their grandpartners folders with the Bessie’s Hope Living History interview questions (6 pages long).  These questions helped prompt the students to find out more about the interesting lives their elder friends lived. 

While all youth visits are uplifting and bring smiles to the faces of elders living in long term care, the Friends’ School group was a wonderful example of what can happen when teachers are able to commit to ongoing visits.  One or two visits can expose youth to the vast pool of wisdom and love that resides within the elders, however ongoing visits actually create a bond between the two generations. Frequent visits create a unique learning experience for the young and a valuable friendship for both generations.