Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9503010092
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIMI EUBANK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Several elementary schools have come up with ways to spend time with the community's senior citizens, and it's working out so that both kids and seniors are benefiting.
Some Bedford County schools have formed partnerships with nursing homes in the Bedford area.
Thaxton Elementary School pupils visit residents who are celebrating birthdays at Woodhaven Nursing Home; New London Academy students visit Westminster Canterbury in Lynchburg twice a month.
Forest Elementary School pupils recently returned from a Valentine's Day visit to the Bedford County Nursing Home. These third-graders drew pictures to hang in the halls, made snow people and paper flowers for bedside decorations, and read poems to the residents.
Morgan Staton even played the piano.
Many of these residents are grandparents, and their grandchildren aren't always nearby to visit. The pupils remind them of their own grandchildren, and that makes them happy.
"Even if you don't know them, they're happy that you came," said Melissa Booker. Sharing poems and pictures with the residents makes them happy, said Jasmine Taylor.
"One man even cried," he was so happy, said Adam Church.
One thing the pupils learned from the visit is that they must be patient with the residents, who may not hear or see very well. But that doesn't keep the kids from wanting to visit the home again.
Amy Smith, information coordinator for Bedford County public schools, says she believes that the partnership is good for the children because they leave the nursing home knowing they've made someone's day brighter, and that make the pupils feel good.
The residents benefit from the visits because talking with kids makes them feel like a part of the community again, said Smith.
Roanoke schools have similar partnerships with older adults in the Roanoke Valley. Some, like Raleigh Court Elementary School pupils, also visit nursing homes. Other schools visit with older adults who do not live in nursing homes, but who are active in their churches.
Lyle Myers of Northminster Presbyterian Church got the idea to work with elementary pupils three years ago. She believed there were many kids whose parents worked at night, and were not always able to help with schoolwork.
And, "I just love children," she said.
Since then, several Northminster church members have started tutoring students at Huff Lane Elementary School in Roanoke once or twice a week.
Mary Donato, a retired school teacher who taught school for 36 years, has been helping Anesa Vugdalic learn English. Anesa came to the United States last year from Bosnia, and has been speaking English for only one year.
Anesa said she is grateful for the extra help she receives from Donato, who is now helping her to read "Winnie the Pooh."
But the kids and their tutors don't spend all of their time working. They have become friends, too, said tutor Betty Brunner.
On Thursdays, students and tutors take time out to play games together and have refreshments.
Brunner said she believes that because she and her pupils are friends, she can encourage them to study harder and do better in school.
Whether they are singing songs in the nursing homes or working with fractions at school, the kids all seem to enjoy the time they spend with their older partners.
Forest Elementary pupils are eager to return to Bedford County Nursing Home.
Corey Stinnett would like to bring a bird feeder to hang outside the residents' windows so they can watch the birds more closely. Kathleen Biehl would like to help residents make their beds. Adam Church would like to visit the parts of the nursing home he didn't see on Valentine's Day.
Brunner's pupils sometimes are so "pumped up" to spend time with her and the other tutors that they often want to continue the tutoring session.
"Sometimes they'll ask, "Do we have to go now?" said Brunner.
by CNB