Two
years ago the grade 4-5 students at Janeville Elementary School had the
opportunity to begin a collaborative daffodil growing project with the veterans
at the Robert L. Knowles Veterans Villa.
This experience opened the students’ eyes to how important their visit
was to the seniors and they realized the need those seniors had for social
interaction with the youth.
As the daffodils were laying dormant over the winter, the students wanted to spread some cheer to the veterans and planned several visits both during school time and after school. They created birthday cards that they sent to the nursing home, planned a school wide visit to honor them for Remembrance Day, organized and produced a Valentine’s Day music video with the residents, and held an Acadian cultural event at the adjoining seniors’ residence. At the end of the school year, the students took a field trip to the home to sing songs and were treated to ice cream by the veterans.
When a new school year began, in the fall of 2014, the students wanted to rekindle their connection. Despite budgetary cutbacks that prevented them from making the number of visits they wanted, they still managed to find a way to make a few. The residence had also undergone a major change, in that it was no longer a Veterans Villa but rather a provincial nursing home. Although the earlier project was geared towards connecting with veterans, that didn’t make any difference to the students. They still wanted to make connections with the seniors and spread a little cheer.
They were able to make one school wide visit to hold a Remembrance Day ceremony and have made after school visits to the help the seniors make dog biscuits for the SPCA and paint eggs for Easter.
As the daffodils were laying dormant over the winter, the students wanted to spread some cheer to the veterans and planned several visits both during school time and after school. They created birthday cards that they sent to the nursing home, planned a school wide visit to honor them for Remembrance Day, organized and produced a Valentine’s Day music video with the residents, and held an Acadian cultural event at the adjoining seniors’ residence. At the end of the school year, the students took a field trip to the home to sing songs and were treated to ice cream by the veterans.
When a new school year began, in the fall of 2014, the students wanted to rekindle their connection. Despite budgetary cutbacks that prevented them from making the number of visits they wanted, they still managed to find a way to make a few. The residence had also undergone a major change, in that it was no longer a Veterans Villa but rather a provincial nursing home. Although the earlier project was geared towards connecting with veterans, that didn’t make any difference to the students. They still wanted to make connections with the seniors and spread a little cheer.
They were able to make one school wide visit to hold a Remembrance Day ceremony and have made after school visits to the help the seniors make dog biscuits for the SPCA and paint eggs for Easter.