Students Learn Career, Life Lessons Through Partnership With Bickford

As a student, Kaitlyn Rompala, 11, is used to learning new things on a daily basis.

But a recent visit to Bickford Assisted Living through ’s cross-generational program allowed the 11-year-old  to add a new word to her vocabulary.

“Last week we learned what a davenport was,” said Kaitlyn who had never heard the word a senior resident at Bickford used to describe a couch.

Since 2009, Prairie Point Elementary School students have visited residents to spend time reading books, playing board games, and enjoying Wii games. Students also commonly perform plays, readers theatre or sing for the residents.

This year there were 12 fifth-grade students who were chosen based on an application process. They spent time each week helping staff prepare activities for the residents, as well as participate in them, and work with residents on memory care by conversing with them.

Staff from Prairie Point Elementary supervise each visit.

“The students really love it,” said Kathryn Schafermeyer, assistant principal at Prairie Point Elementary School. “Many of our kids don’t live near their grandparents—families are separated by distance now. This is a unique way to have a connection to our elderly community members.”

Because Bickford Assisted Living is near the school, students walk to and from the facility.

Schafermeyer uses the opportunity to talk to the students about their visits.

“I say, ‘Tell me what about today you really liked,’” she said. “They love that the residents have a sense of humor and they can joke around with them. And they like learning things about the past that maybe they haven’t studied in school.”

Kaitlyn said she enjoys her visits to Bickford.

“I like seeing the residents there and how happy their faces light up when they see us walking through the hallways,” she said. “And they always seem like they’re having a really good time.”

Schafermeyer said the program is mutually beneficial.

“I love to see the kids have that experience with the elderly community members,” she said. “I think the program really fosters the idea of taking care of each other in the community and caring about people outside of your family and school. And it helps the students develop compassion and empathy.”