Intergenerational Program Database

Since 2000, Bishop’s Commons Enriched Living has embraced children of all ages with creative and age appropriate activities and programs. They utilize a neighboring elementary school, day care, and SUNY state college students to foster interaction and friendships with the seniors living at Bishop's Commons. On a weekly basis, our community creates activities for any age that is interactive and meaningful where children and seniors learn from each other, share experiences and life stories, and simply have fun. It begins with the youngest of ages, where infants join seniors for “Lullaby Baby Socials” where singing, rocking, and floor time is simple and easy, yet fulfilling for everyone. Bishop’s Commons staff works to make a meaningful child/senior interaction and experience whenever the opportunity arises so much that the enriched living residence has acquired a reputation around the entire Oswego community where schools that are farther away are calling to bring their students in to benefit from the programs.

Warwick Day Care Center is located on a shared site with two senior care facilities. On Fridays the preschoolers visit with the seniors and sing with them. Keyword: Shared Site

Older adults read weekly with the same child in all kindergarten classes in the 4 elementary schools in Princeton, NJ, and in some first and second grade classes in one school.

Hearts in the Past works with local schools to bring in children as volunteers to interact with our residents and to participate in various activities along with them. This interaction is enriching for both young and old and is a favorite among our residents.

Storied Lives pairs service-minded high-potential students who love to write with the elderly living in residential care homes, who are often lonely and want to tell their stories. Over the course of a program, the students will spend quality time with their assigned elderly person, getting to know them, writing a story about their life, and finally, presenting the story to their resident at the program’s closing ceremony. The program was founded in 2012 in Morris County, NJ, pairing students from West Morris Mendham High School with elderly residents at Morris Hills Center in Morristown, NJ.

Grandparents Day Grand Prix- this was held on Grandparents Day to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Annual Walk for All Ages, designed to raise awareness of issues affecting older adults. The Prix included a variety of intergenerational activities to take part in.

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.