Education
Goals
Introduction /
Goal
One / Goal
Two / Goal Three / Goal
Four / Goal Five / Goal
Six
By the year 2000, American students will leave grades four,
eight, and twelve having demonstrated competency over challenging
subject matter, including English, mathematics, science, history,
and geography, and every school in America will ensure that
all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared
for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive
employment in our modern society.
Students' performances and achievements are often based on
the examples set by others. Older persons as role models can
help students become greater contributors to their peers, schools,
and communities. Older persons as tutors and mentors empower
students to higher accomplishments in academic areas and as
critical thinkers. Basic writing and speaking skills can be
improved through contact with older adults throughout a child's
education.
"Only the idealism of youth, the practicality of middle
age and the wisdom of maturity, working in concert, as individuals
and in organizations, can affect the social transformations
needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This is the
hub of the Circle of Helping." Ronald Elling, Executive
Director Illinois Alliance for Aging
1. Longer
Lives: Children Learn About Changing Roles
By Ann Gale, Chicago Department
on Aging
It is another broiling summer day and the 18 urban teenagers
in Chicago's Urban Youth High School program are at work, this
time guiding visually impaired senior citizens on a tour of
the Chicago Botanic Garden. They describe trees and flowers,
guide frail hands towards tree trunks and leaves, tell stories
to their new older friends. Other days they visit shut-ins,
work on art projects with younger children, act as scribes for
seniors who write poems in their heads. The teens were tentative
when the program started, but soon began enjoying themselves
and saw how much they were needed. They kept coming back, maintaining
a 97 percent attendance rate, and by the end of the summer had
made new friends, both young and old.
Today's children will enjoy an unprecedented longevity. Many
will live for 80 or more years. When they are 65, about 20 percent
of the population will be 65 or older. So it is essential for
children to develop positive attitudes toward older people,
toward aging, and toward planning for their long lives. Interaction
with older people helps children understand the different roles
we accept as we age and grow personally and professionally.
For example, children need to experience the change from a protective
attitude older persons show for kindergarten children to the
free give-and-take in the exchange between older children and
senior citizens. Such encounters help children understand that
relationships change with age.
Children can become more responsible citizens through programs
that help them recognize the value of older persons; encourage
them to plan for a long life; and allow them to share experiences
with older persons who are not relatives and may be from different
cultures.
The Department on Aging has produced aging-education materials
for use in the Chicago public schools. Each unit focuses on
different aspects of aging:
Imagination Gallery presents a series of paintings and sculpture
focusing on the circus, the park, or the ballet. Slides for
primary grades show the ways in which older persons are able
to expand a child's world. For the middle grades, a program
on the artist Matisse introduces children to twentieth-century
art, Matisse's world, and cut-paper productions done in his
old age.
Backwards and Forwards, for the middle grades, presents slides
of artworks from the historic periods of The Iliad, The Odyssey,
Sigurd, and King Arthur. The heroes are depicted in scenes where
they look to older persons for advice.
Lifelines, for junior high students, emphasizes planning intelligently
for a life of 80 to 100 years. It also reviews what older persons
have contributed to Chicago. Issues raised by the increasing
number of older persons are presented for discussion.
A class of older students from one school meets with senior
citizens at our centers a few times each year to enjoy programs
of mutual interest, for example, "Protect Our Planet,"
"Safety," "Mexico," and others. New programs
are being developed in cooperation with children's libraries,
with YMCA preschool groups, and with local park districts.
The Chicago Department of Aging has been operating intergenerational
programs since 1978, beginning with just four schools. Today,
four slide-show programs have been developed and presented to
7,000 children each year. Three part-time aides, in addition
to the director, make up the current staff.
For more information, contact Ann Gale or Program Director Larry
Wallingford, Chicago Department on Aging, 510 N. Peshtigo Court,
Chicago, Illinois 60611. (312) 744-5779.
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2. Grand Friends: Library,
Craft Projects Create Mutual Respect
By Merrie Star, former Director Chicago RSVP Program
Florence Stepner prepared for her retirement by realizing that
after retirement "there is more to life than sitting at
home." She tutors children, assists the teachers, and "does
whatever I can to help out at the school and library."
At Northtown Public Library, Florence works in the children's
department: "I help them with their homework, find books,
and on occasion quiet them down by playing policeman."
She enjoys the rich cultural diversity in her neighborhood and
believes that she learns as much from her "grandchildren"
as they do from her. Her goal is "to give the children
just a little more love and special attention."
A mutual exchange of learning and teaching occurs between the
generations in the RSVP Grand Friends Project operated by the
Retired Senior Volunteer Program of Senior Centers of Metropolitan
Chicago, an affiliate of Hull House Association. The project
brings together senior volunteers and Chicago public school
children in educational and recreational activities. Special
relationships develop between the Grand Friends and students
which can help to increase the children's self-esteem as well
as spark their enthusiasm for learning new skills.
Forty-five senior volunteers actively participate in the project.
Volunteers in the schools provide one-on-one tutoring or work
in groups creating craft projects. In the libraries, Grand Friends
serve as homework helpers or guides to library resources, primarily
after school.
Volunteers who participate feel their experiences and abilities
are appreciated and can be directly shared with children who
need their help. Good citizenship and active participation in
public education is fostered in young and old alike. The students
begin to understand through their exchanges with their Grand
Friends that learning is indeed a lifelong activity and responsibility.
Older volunteers create positive role models for the students
to follow. Their personal involvement and commitment to public
education demonstrates their real concern for these students.
RSVP has operated the program since 1986, when it adopted the
Teaching-Learning Communities Project (T-LC) originated by educator
Carol Tice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. RSVP enlarged the program
in 1988 to include sites at library branches in the city.
For more information, contact Keith Chase-Ziolek, RSVP Director,
Hull House, 118 North Clinton, Chicago, Il 60661 (312) 726-1526.
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3. Pen Pals: Students Practice
Writing, Learn About Elders
By Gary Dunham, Lincoln School, Macomb
Five years ago, I was searching for a pen pal program and was
contacted by a nursing home looking for a partner in an adopt-a-grandparent
program. After a few minutes of discussion, we agreed to meld
our efforts. What followed was a unique and meaningful experience
for my students. We tried different ideas over the first two
years, finally resulting in the current program. It has been
very successful.
I begin each year by giving a class list to the director of
activities at the nursing home, who pairs each child with one
of the residents. Each child is then asked to write a letter
to his or her pen pal, although they are told that many of the
residents are unable to pen return letters. As soon thereafter
as possible, I arrange a trip for the children to visit the
nursing home, where some wonderful interaction often happens
during the hour we are there. I encourage (actually require)
the children to write letters on a weekly basis for several
weeks, but after that I let nature take its course. Most of
the students continue to write at least twice a month. I hand
deliver the letters on Friday and distribute any return mail
to the students on the following Monday.
During the middle part of the school year, some residents make
brief visits to the classroom, and we give short demonstrations
of various activities. This is a unique experience for all of
us.
As a concluding activity, we take a field trip to an old one-room
school museum in town and have a sample of an old-fashioned
school day and sack lunch with as many of our pen pals as are
able to make the trip. I arrange for a retired teacher who actually
taught in such a school to describe the "olden days"
and even to present sample lessons. The excursion usually lasts
three hours.
One drawback of the project is the advanced age and poor health
of the senior residents. We have lost pen pals in three of the
five years. It is a hard lesson about the realities of life
and death, but so far, the kids have dealt with the deaths fairly
well. One year, a student lost two different pen pals; she did
have difficulty accepting the second death.
This program gives students a meaningful way to strengthen
their communication skills and gives them a very strong lesson
in citizenship as they provide enjoyment to their elderly friends.
For more information, contact Gary Dunham, Lincoln School, Macomb,
Illinois, 61455. 309-833-2094.
"By promoting interagency cooperation at all levels,
state agencies serve as a vital link in the "circle of
helping" that intergenerational programs have formed in
Illinois." Bob Kustra Lieutenant Governor
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4. Oral History: Stories Help
Children in Troubled Neighborhood
By Tyrone Ward, Chicago Public Library Literacy
Initiative
The Rockwell Gardens Oral History Project is a partnership
between a fourth grade class from the Grant Elementary School
and a group of senior citizens at the Midwest Terrace Apartments
nearby. Rockwell Gardens is a neighborhood located on the Near
West Side of Chicago. Like many urban communities, Rockwell
Gardens has undergone a number of abrupt transitions in recent
years. Both the speed and complexity of those changes often
defies understanding. Yet older residents have watched as their
community evolved from one comprised of two-parent, working
class households to the current situation of high unemployment
and single-parent families.
Rockwell Gardens residents have been steadfast in their determination
to breath new life into the community. They call the neighborhood
"home." The Rockwell Gardens Oral History Project
is one of the ways neighborhood residents demonstrate that determination.
The project is another example of how neighbors look to one
another for the resources that will ultimately elevate their
quality of life.
Since late August 1991, Ms. Dorris Briscoe has led her class
of 15 bright and eager fourth grade students to meet weekly
with senior citizen mentors. These hourly meetings are held
Wednesdays in the large meeting rooms of the Midwest Terrace
Apartments.
There was very little effort required to pair individual students
and mentors into groups. Indeed, the pairings were resolved
in an easy and natural manner. Some might even say that the
room brightened a little on those August and September afternoons
as the beams from shy smiles and joyous eyes reflected around
the room. Several of the mentors continually expressed gratitude
for the opportunity to give something of worth to their community,
and to "help our young people."
After this familiarization period, dialogue between the students
and their mentors became easier. The second phase involved setting
several other objectives in motion in the hopes of achieving
the following goals:
1. Tape one 30 minute dialogue
between each student/mentor pairing. These dialogs, recorded
on audio-cassette tapes, can be prompted by "Student Speak"
and "Senior Citizen Speak" pages that offer readers
a format of 15 questions. The questions range from biographical
information to personal tastes in attire and foods. Individuals
are encouraged to use the format, talk spontaneously, or create
their own combination of the two. Also, each mentor is encouraged
to retell a poem, short story, and/or proverb that was learned
during their youth.
2. Assist each pairing in
transcribing their dialogues. This process encourages the students
to view their mentors as tutors. Teachers can use the transcribed
materials in combination with required class readings. Students
should learn that information about their community, its residents,
and themselves is both instructional and not remote from their
required course work.
3. Transform the transcribed
dialogues into poems, dramatic performances, or stories. Students
can read and dramatize the dialogues in a school play. Their
mentors can participate. They may coach students or narrate
between scenes, but most of all they can be part of the audience
for the play (or collection of scenes). Finally, mentors can
spread the news about the project by inviting friends and neighbors
to see their students read and dramatize a history of their
community.
For further information contact: Tyrone Ward, Chicago Public
Library Literacy Initiative, 3618 South State Street, Chicago,
IL, 60637, (312) 747-7094.
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Share the Magic:
Library creates a holiday tradition
By Joan Wood, Pekin Public Library
During the economically depressed 1987 Christmas season, the
library was looking for a way to help local businesses. We decided
to hold a program called "Share the Magic" for grandparents
and grandchildren in order to give parents time to shop without
children. As it turned out, most businesses decided not to remain
open the evening of our program, but the library accidentally
discovered the magic of intergenerational programming.
Share the Magic is now held each year about a week before Christmas.
It begins with the taking of a Polaroid photo of children with
their grandparents. Handprints are traced and wishes are made
about something special to do with grandparents. These things
are put in a folder and given to the grandparents as a gift
from the grandchild.
Since introducing Share the Magic, the Pekin Public Library
has made a commitment to intergenerational programming with
a series of programs. The free Saturday afternoon programs target
children, parents, grandparents and friends of all ages to enjoy
crafts, hobbies, and entertainment. The schedule for last fall
includes: *Remembering Summertime *Harvesting the River *Quilting
*Scary Stores *Recognizing and Understanding Snakes *The Three
Little Pigs vs. the Big Bad Wolf *Making Gingerbread Houses
*Share the Magic.
Another successful program was the "Send-a-Story"
day where readers of all ages were invited to be videotaped
reading a favorite story that could then be sent to relatives
or friends. These programs have served to give children a sense
of community and history. Also developing the library habit
is beneficial to reading and other important learning skills.
Contact Joan Wood, Pekin Public Library, 301 S. Fourth St.,
Pekin, IL 61554, (309) 347-7111.
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