Intergenerational Program Database

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.

The students, through the visits by seniors and the outreach to them in the community, understand the seniors as a group and understand the physical strength and weaknesses of the seniors, thereby getting a better understanding of the process of aging both from a generic point of view and as a way to understand their own aging future. The course, and its Center, provides the students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge and gain practical experience working with an age group that many will work with during their professional careers, i.e.  as physical and occupational therapists, geriatric doctors, directors of programming in community senior centers, assisted living facilities, etc.

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.

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.

The Intergenerational School Breakfast Program (ISBP) traditionally pairs adult volunteers with young children, pre-kindergarten through the third grade, during the school breakfast program. Volunteers serve as role models, reading storybooks to the children and teaching them about the importance of good nutrition and eating breakfast. Some of the sites have a senior volunteers only stipulation

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.

CareOne at Ewing has partnered with two local schools to participate in our intergenerational program, which partners our residents with students in a variety of fun activities, including karaoke sing-alongs, word games and holiday crafts.

NJIO is an “Orchestra for All” which welcomes musicians of all ages and skill levels into a nurturing artistic environment. Through multiple ensembles, we encourage our diverse group of players to move along the musical continuum. Our members, from earliest beginners to most accomplished instrumentalists will grow musically from their NJIO interactions with musical professionals and each other, while advancing together towards the common goal of achieving artistic excellence within their capabilities.

From its inception in 2008, the Intergenerational Prom has been a favorite event for Bernards High School Students. The prom is the brainchild of Bernardsville resident Greg DiGioacchino, a member of the Somerset Hills School District Board of Education. Senior citizens from the school district’s four sending towns – Bernardsville, Bedminster, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone – are invited every year. “The purpose of the evening is to treat (the) senior citizens to dinner and dancing,” she said. “It’s just mingling, interaction between the generations. Many generations just coming together to have a night of fun.”