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Chelsea Seniors Visit Beach Middle School During Generations Project (with slideshow)

Story and Photos by Lisa Carolin

In the spirit of reciprocity, sixth-grade students from Beach Middle School hosted seniors from the Chelsea Senior Center at Beach on Thursday, Feb.16.

The students gave seniors a tour of their school and showed their projects to the seniors, which had to do with the stories seniors had shared with them when the sixth-graders visited the senior center on Dec. 7.

Sixth-grader Brooke Reiser said she enjoyed getting to talk to the seniors again because they have so much experience.

Her classmate Amelia Wolff agreed and raved about how much she has learned getting together both times with the seniors.

The purpose of the two meetings is for the Generations Project, which combines Global Studies and ELA (English Language Acquisition) classes. The younger generation practiced listening and interviewing skills, presentation skills, and had the chance to learn about the lives of older generations.

It was senior Jean Vargas’ 20 years of experience volunteering at a zoo that led to the students’ idea to create a small zoo at Timbertown as a project.

“It has been so nice getting to spend time with young people,” said Vargas.

Senior Dave Gilbert said, “They’ve been bringing us up to date on what’s going on today.”

The collaboration between Beach and the senior center began in 2017 thanks to sixth-grade teacher Amy Doma and Jennifer Smith, assistant director of the senior center.

“We spent considerable time working on ‘soft skills’ like how to have a conversation with someone you just met, ask follow up questions, shake hands, use eye contact and active listening skills,” said Doma. “The students really enjoyed writing their own interview questions, but seeing them actively engaged and able to have an hour long conversation with their senior was really special. Hopefully those are skills they will use throughout their lives.”

Smith received positive feedback from the seniors who participated, who said they found the students to be polite and good conversationalists.

“It’s easy to forget how alike we all are and to generalize, judge, and make assumptions about different age groups when we don’t make the time to interact,” said Smith. “Providing opportunities for people of all ages to connect not only nurtures respect between generations, but it fosters a sense of community and provides hope for the future. Sharing stories, life lessons, and wisdom is a powerful connector.”

“I had multiple people share the sentiment that the world is going to be okay if these are our future leaders.”

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