Intergenerational Program Database

This is an annual intergenerational event that is the culminating feature of several months’ of preparation between high school students and senior citizens. Every spring, an original theatre performance, “Living Legacies” created and performed by high school students, brings different themes to the seniors at the South Brunswick Senior Center. Each year, it features a different theme such as: The Veterans’ Stories; Immigration, Our Common Bond; People, Places & Events: South Brunswick’s History; and for 2013 - Celebrating Our Cultural Diversity. The school gathers students and the senior center and their volunteer partner organizations to identify seniors within the Township to participate. They use the theme as the starting point for conversations and begin to meet regularly. Wonderful conversations are held, new things are learned, perspectives are shared and a bond begins to form. Seniors are interviewed by the high school students during their English classes. The students then translate what they learned from all these interviews into monologues and then finally into the theatre performance piece presented at the senior center for all seniors in town. A reception follows, so seniors can then mingle with the students and discuss the show, which continues to foster the learning experience.

Older adults from Spring Hills Cherry Hill Assisted Living garden with students from Cherry Hill Alternative High School. Teenagers and seniors collaborate to keep the garden in good condition. The school garden provides multiple opportunities for high schoolers. Plants are examined for science classes, school pride grows along with the harvest, and students are taking an initiative in "going green."

In addition to the Child Development Center, other intergenerational programs include a pen-pal program with a local elementary school , friendly visits from senior students from local high schools. Their activities include letter writing, decorating, and helping with planned activities. Additionally, 6 high school students from Beijing volunteered in the Fall of 2013

Tech savvy teen siblings give seniors a hand with computers at Cresskill library. Two days each month Noa and Josh Rocco, ages 15 and 16, set up a table answering questions ranging from internet usage, email, and modern hardware.

The Senior Citizen Prom was initiated in 2007 to provide students with the experience of service to elders, and a social opportunity to interact with elders of their community. The Senior Citizen Prom is one of a number of district initiatives that integrate the senior community into the school community, and provide needed resources to a generation that has provided life-long support to the public school district. Other opportunities for senior citizens at West Orange High School include free performances of the fall play and spring musical, a holiday luncheon and computer classes.

For 24 years the Livingston Board of Education, Livingston Township Council and Livingston High School Key Club has hosted an intergenerational prom for high school students and seniors.

Parents Anonymous of New Jersey, Father Time, and Bridgeton Municipal Alliance's youth to youth members spent Martin Luther King weekend serving soup to seniors at the Oakview Heights apartments and RiverWalk Senior Apartments. The groups also donated materials for pillows and blankets and distributed them out to the seniors. A news article about our 2012 event: http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2012/01/bridgeton_youth_serve_soup_to.html

RSVP of Monmouth County has two intergenerational programs. Volunteers read to the same small groups of students each week throughout the school year using a read-aloud format that augments the school’s regular reading curriculum. Healthy Buddies partners senior volunteers with students, grades 3-5, to help them develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors needed to maintain and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

The GrandPals program is a learning and reading program pairing older adults with students in the Princeton Regional Schools. Senior volunteers read to kindergartners at Littlebrook and Riverside Schools to encourage a love of reading and to develop intergenerational friendships.

The Child Development Center at Parker Child Development Center(CDC) is committed to providing a high-quality early childhood program, offering a safe and nurturing environment while promoting the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual development of young children. Residents of Francis E. Parker Memorial Home meet daily with the children for story time, arts and crafts, gardening, reading and visits.