When high school junior Anna Lemp sashays out onto the dance floor for the first song at the prom this year, she'll waltz with a partner old enough to be her grandfather. That's because Anna is co-chair of the senior citizen prom, "Reliving the USO Years." The annual spring dance event, which high school students plan and host, is part of a larger comprehensive initiative to connect seniors to youth in the Pattonville School District in St. Louis County, Missouri.
In Pollock, South Dakota, population 400, students refurbished mobile homes several years ago to reduce a local shortage of housing for older adults. This learning experience has since sparked several multidisciplinary efforts to interact with elderly residents in productive ways. For example, senior citizens in Pollock are now working with students to develop histories of their community and other nearby settlements from the days of Lewis and Clark. The rural district, which educates 150 K–12 students, is even hiring a part-time intergenerational programming coordinator. And Superintendent John LaFave envisions the eventual construction of a nursing care facility that would be attached to the school.
Although the efforts in Pattonville and Pollock are distinct, both school districts are developing programs to reach out to older members of their communities.
The Demographics of Detachment
Educators can scarcely afford to overlook age trends in the United States today. The population of older Americans, which already reflects a sharp increase among citizens over 85, will continue to rise markedly as the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age. Older adults have significant voter impact at school levy time, yet few seniors are connected with their local schools. Harold L. Hodgkinson, director of the Center for Demographic Policy in Washington, D.C., says, "The older you get, the more distanced you are from the public schools." Indeed, 40 percent of the U.S. adult population has no daily or even weekly contact with school-age children.
Shifts related to race and poverty further complicate the challenge of engaging senior adults in public schools. Hodgkinson notes that older taxpayers are not as racially diverse as the schoolchildren affected by their votes. Effective outreach consequently becomes a matter of racial, ethnic, and linguistic understanding. Further, the United States has witnessed an alarming shift in child poverty rates. Thirty years ago, 10 percent of the poor were children and 40 percent were elderly. Today, the mirror opposite is true; four in 10 Americans below the poverty level are children. Yet, he says, "Youth poverty is just not an issue of concern to the elderly." For educators seeking to engage all community members in schools, these age, race, and poverty trends require careful consideration. Hodgkinson says, "Getting older adults to see education as a civic responsibility, rather than a parental responsibility, is the trick."
Intergenerational Impact
Helping seniors see education as a civic responsibility isn't merely a matter of urging them to support school bond issues, social researchers say, but a matter of reuniting generations. Modern culture has caused a chasm between youth and older adults (Newman et al. 1997). Although an increasing number of children are now reared by their grandparents, most children are geographically separated from them, and society has also become more segregated by age. The physical and social separation leads to limited understanding between the generations. Denied meaningful interaction with older adults, children lose a sense of history and continuity. And without children regularly in their lives, older people miss out on a certain vibrancy and a sense of social contribution.
From retiree-run tutoring programs to student service in nursing home facilities, educators and other citizens have initiated hundreds of small-scale programs to link young and old in recent years. "If you look at the world through an intergenerational lens, endless possibilities open up," says Nancy Henkin, executive director of Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning.
By fostering ongoing relationships, intergenerational programs can reshape the perceptions older adults and youth have of one another. "If you're never in the schools, it's easier to be judgmental," says Anne Henderson, an education policy consultant at the Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University. "Once they go into the schools, older adults understand the challenges schools face." And by tapping into the wellspring of experience, dedication, and diverse expertise older adults offer, intergenerational programs contribute to student learning. "Intergenerational efforts are a vital form of community involvement," says Lois Jean White, president of the National PTA.
Promoting Participation
Reaching out to older people has become a hallmark of the Pattonville Public Schools. In recent years, the district has experienced a decline in houses with school-age children, a growing number of senior citizens, and increasing racial diversity among school-age children. Through an array of innovative programs, the district enables older community members to get to know young people as individuals—and become direct stakeholders in the schools. There is even a dedicated room for senior citizens in the district's community learning center.
Nearly a decade ago, the school district launched the 55-Plus Club to focus special attention on the senior adult population. Club membership, which is open even to grandparents outside district boundaries, grants senior adults free admittance to school sporting and musical events, a discount in the community education program, and use of the district media center. This year, nearly 800 club members attended a free dinner theater performance of Fiddler on the Roof at Pattonville High. And, of course, members are invited to the annual senior citizen prom. Mickey Schoonover, director of school and community relations, says, "The club gets them into the schools and shows them how we're doing. Pattonville feels like a community because all generations are involved."
For Mavis Stein, being involved in the Pattonville schools has been a weekly commitment for seven years. Stein, a volunteer reading tutor in the district's intergenerational tutoring program, works closely with two 1st graders to help them improve their reading skills. Through the program, which offers tutors training, Stein has developed special bonds with the young students. "The children don't live near their extended families today," she says. "Involving senior citizens in schools is a wonderful way to reconnect with families."
Stein's tutoring work has also shaped her views of children today and of the Pattonville schools. "I am so appalled by some of the realities these children face. They really endure some tough situations at home," she says. "And people don't think about how hard the teachers work. Anyone who thinks they have it easy doesn't understand. It can be very trying, and they have to be an absolute statue of patience." For Stein, the intangible benefits of tutoring make the work worthwhile. "The fact that I'm helping is so rewarding to me."
Structuring Meaningful Experiences
Making intergenerational programs rewarding—and appealing—to senior adults is critical to their long-term success. "Don't call for volunteers unless you have a program that's well-developed," says Carolyn Williams, outreach programs coordinator for the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement. The most effective intergenerational programs, Williams says, match the needs and talents of seniors and students, carefully delineate responsibilities, and offer training and ongoing support. "The best programs enable seniors to establish personal relationships with children," Henderson says. "It's much better for them to read to kids, to sponsor clubs, and to assist with after-school programs than to have them doing isolated clerical work."
Preparing to launch an intergenerational effort may also require sensitizing seniors, students, and educators to issues related to age and culture. "There's still lots of ageism in society," Henkin says. "And it's best to prepare the kids to interact with older people and vice versa." Preparing for intergenerational activities also involves establishing realistic assumptions and goals for programs, Henkin adds.
Bringing Efforts Up to Scale
Although programs that connect older adults and youth have great potential to improve public education, most efforts are isolated. Senior adults remain a tremendously underutilized resource in many school communities. The challenge before educators now is to bring intergenerational efforts up to scale. "We know what works; now it's a matter of creating an infrastructure," Henkin asserts. By making intergenerational programming an integral part of school reform, school systems are more likely to reap the long-term benefits of connecting seniors to schools (Angelis and Wathen 1994). School districts, including the Philadelphia Public Schools, are breaking new ground as they systematize efforts. "The goal is to have a continuum of opportunities for the involvement of older people," she says.
For student Anna Lemp, co-chairing the senior citizen prom has been a welcome opportunity to forge unique community connections. She looks forward to the spring dance, which is separate from the students' senior prom. "Students see that the senior citizens are really not that different from us," Lemp says. "They can see that there's not that much of a gap. And we can learn a lot from them."
