Donation helps students and seniors in Rivers
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, June 17, 2015
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
The Grade 6 class at Rivers Elementary School has spent this school year volunteering, sharing and learning at Riverdale Personal Care Home (PCH). Those biweekly visits have culminated in unique relationships between youth and seniors, most notably in that the students became the teachers. When they brought the school’s iPads, residents were initially reluctant to touch them, but after the pupils demonstrated how to play games, attitudes of the elderly began to change — they embraced the technology.
When students realized the need to have iPads in the PCH on a permanent basis, they set about to fundraise for that purpose. The class prepared a verbal and power point presentation for the June 3 meeting of Rivers and Area Lions Club. Part of their presentation included quotes from three companies for an 32GB Apple iPad Air with case ($615-$660). Following the meeting, but unbeknownst to the children until the Monday, June 8 school assembly, Lion members agreed to provide $650 for the purchase of one iPad.
Rivers Elementary School also partnered with Clean Under Pressure and held a car wash with all funds going towards the purchase of an iPad. This June 6 event raised enough money for a second iPad; students made their presentation to the PCH on their final day there, Friday, June 12 when they participated in the Alzheimer Society Memory Walk with residents.
The kids’ presentation states, “We have gone twice a month to visit our elderly friends every month of the school year. We walk over at 10:30 and return to the school around 11:45 — approximately one hour each visit. We enjoy the games, talking and finding out how different it was from when they were kids to now. Some of our favourite activities have been painting flower pots in April, posing for crazy pictures in a photo booth activity in February and baking for the care home’s sales. Everyone enjoys our visits, and the residents like our company.
“Seniors benefit from this because we challenge their mental skills with activities. We try to get them to talk and share their ideas with us. They are able to participate in physical activities and we are helping them exercise. The seniors enjoy being around kids and playing games or working with us to help us learn something new. Residents are able to learn about new technology like the iPad, and we taught them]about important upcoming events like municipal elections.
“We are learning how to communicate with seniors and to give to others in our community. We also benefit from this because we get to lead activities. This teaches us to be leaders and helps us learn how to organize activities for groups at different age-levels. [Our goal is] to share our ideas with other community members, encouraging them to become involved as well, and to create awareness of how our community might support the seniors in it.”
In October the students hosted a candidate afternoon, November they played old-fashioned games, December was the home’s Christmas tea and bake sale, Canada Day was celebrated in January (because students won’t be there on July 1) and February was time for exercises and photography. It was only in March that students brought iPads.
“We discovered the care home didn’t have iPads and we knew most residents had never learned to use one. We thought this might be a good activity to help them with eye-hand co-ordination. It was also a chance for us to share a bit of our world with them. A few students looked for games that would be easy for seniors. Some seniors were afraid to touch the screen and others caught on right away, with our help. We recommend that each home have at least one iPad!”
Although this venture was initially planned by teacher Lorraine Hodgson and PCH activity director Brenda Gerrard, students quickly became very involved in all aspects of planning, and carrying out their ideas was the sole responsibility of the students. Prior to each activity, students used class time to prepare and discuss the potential challenges they could face during that activity. Several classroom discussions occurred about the characteristics of seniors and how best to encourage their participation. Gerrard and Hodgson only supported pupils as needed.
The class feels this program should continue in the 2015-16 school year and, while some of them would like to renew their visits next year when they are in Grade 7, they realize their fellow students in Grade 5 are already anticipating their chance at the PCH.
