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:
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.
[…] 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 […]