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Jun 28 2013

Seniors2

What is Seniors for Seniors?

Seniors for Seniors is a joint effort between High Tech High and Senior Community Centers that aims to connect two groups that are often very isolated from each other – senior citizens and high school seniors. We feel that students have a great deal to learn from our communities aging population and hope that this project will open a conduit for learning and experience.

What did students do for this project?

Students will be visiting the Senior Wellness Center throughout their semester and will partner with a senior for the duration of the project. In addition to social activities, general volunteering, and educational activities, students will be responsible for the following:

  • Interviewing their senior partner.
  • Producing and publishing a piece of creative nonfiction / literary journalism that represents their partners legacy.
  • Producing a mechanical wooden toy that represents their partner’s legacy.
  • At the conclusion of the project, all books & toys will be provided to their senior partner’s for keeping, gifting to loved ones, or donating to a local charity.

How did it go?

This project was a tremendous success and led to my being awarded honorable mention in McGraw Hill’s 2012 STEM Innovators in Education (STEMIE) award.

Other Materials

I used the Seniors2 project as the basis for a STEMIE grant application. Materials are available here:

  • STEMIE Application Video
  • STEMIE Application Documents

Student Work

Student work is shown in the STEMIE application video and student writing is available in the book we published.

Reflections

Students also submitted course reflections.

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Written by scottswaaley · Categorized: DCG Include Category, Project Summaries, Projects

Trackbacks

  1. Piracy Based Learning says:
    July 13, 2013 at 11:54 pm

    […] of fiction with the students. My mind initially wandered to the adult world success of my previous Seniors2 Project, my memory of the multiple veterans we visited in that home, and my interest in WWII […]

  2. Lawn Chats @ MIT says:
    August 5, 2013 at 7:22 pm

    […] I got parts, how I scaffolded them, how physics was involved, etc. Specifically, Apocalypto, Seniors2, and Piracy Based […]

  3. Working w/ Wood | A Project Summary - GRITLab says:
    February 17, 2014 at 3:28 am

    […] Abstract: Pitched in January of 2012 as “Working w/ Wood – An Engineer’s Adventure into Whirlygags, Whatchamacallits, and other Mechanical Apparatus”, this nine day Intersession course guided students through the process of designing and fabricating wooden automata. Students started by assembling the paper automata of Rob Ives and Walter Ruffler before designing their own mechanical pieces and fabricating them. This project gave rise to the much more formalized Seniors2 Project. […]

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