Some younger students may not have much experience with senior citizens beyond their own grandparents. They may also be confused or even frightened when confronted with having to navigate through a retirement community if they are not familiar with their surroundings.

A visit to a retirement community will give students a rich understanding of what they can give to senior citizens in the community as well as what senior citizens have to offer to students.

Take Alpine Elementary in Comstock Park, Michigan. This month students worked with The LEAGUE on the event "Art From the Heart" and created Valentines Day “Care Cards” to deliver to elderly residents of the Covenant Village retirement community nearby.

Each class spent an hour with teachers and volunteers writing care cards and letters. On the back of each card was a return address to the school, so residents could write back to the students. Then, five representatives from each class were bussed to the retirement community to meet with residents. Students read their care cards and asked residents questions.  Some questions were ice-breakers such as:

What is your favorite food?

What is you hobby?

Do you have children?

Other questions delved deeper into an oral history, such as:

When you were our age, what did you do for fun?

Looking back, what is the best part of your life?

Answers ranged from the funny to the very profound, and students listened intently.

Students were then given a tour around the retirement community by residents. Some residents were retired teachers, and were overjoyed to be around students again. 

How is this service-learning? Students learned reading, writing and interview skills, participated in a school-wide art, and applied it to a project that made a real and hopefully lasting impression on community members.

There are great ideas for events and lessons integrated with the standards at www.learningtogive.org