The Dockerty family at Woodland Terrace already plays a major role in the business community of Michigan's Great Southwest, but they are never one to rest on their laurels, so they continue to revolutionize their industry by creating stronger people connections for their clientele. Never is that more evident than in the remarkable connection they have made for residents of their Niles facility with school children in an attempt to bridge the generational gap.
Every Wednesday for six weeks, twenty-three Kindergarten students from the Eastside Connections School in Niles are transported from their classroom to Woodland Terrace on Longmeadow Drive for a day of learning and connecting. The kindergartners and their teacher, Bonnie Prenkert, take over…turning the assisted living's conference room into a classroom and the residents into active participants.
The kindergartners go about their match and reading lessons, crafts, music and gym-time surrounded by the residents who live at Woodland Terrace. Some residents watch from the sidelines while others roll up their sleeves and join the fun.
It's enough to draw one such resident out of her apartment each week, as she makes her way to the door where the 23 eager students pour in with their smiles and lunch sacks in tow. All are excited to begin another day of getting to know one another.
Sometimes residents help the learners with exercise, reading, writing and art projects, which turns into great motivation for everybody. With several parent volunteers, the stations the learners rotate to are spread throughout the facility. The lessons are engaging for both the students and the seniors alike.
With fewer children growing up with a grandparent in the home, emerging research has suggested they are missing out on rich learning experiences. The concept of the young working with the elderly is called intergenerational learning. The kindergartners and seniors are both in life stages that leave them a little vulnerable. They are completely accepting of one another in a new concept that challenges the stereotype of aging by tapping into the strengths of the senior population.
The kindergartners eat lunch with the residents during a time that has turned into sharing, communicating, learning and laughter. That was intentional, having them sit with residents during lunch, knowing that both sets of participants would start to talk to one another. Each week the interactions have become even more visible. It's becoming clear that both groups are enjoying the experience.
With the support of the Woodland Terrace administrative team and the Niles School system administration, the experience has become a memory that will last a lifetime. Project-based learning is an instructional method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem or challenge. The class question was, "How can we help everyone in our class have grandparents close to them?"
Instructor Bonnie Prenkert says her hope is that the learners "will continue to visit the residents that they have gotten to know after the six weeks are over. This has become a valuable lesson for everyone from our parents to the administrative teams, to the residents and the learners."
Next week, on May 25th, the Eastside Connections Class invites the public to visit and see what project-based learning is and how they have started to bridge the generations. A program will be held at Woodland Terrace, located at 13 Longmeadow Drive in Niles with a program scheduled to run from 6pm to 7pm with social time afterwards.
