Highland 3rd Graders learning life skills through community service

The third grade classes at Highland Elementary School might never have expected to be learning not only in their classrooms, but as it turns out, also at the Villa St. Vincent nursing home. “We thought it would be a really neat way for our students to do an outreach and community service project. We contacted the activities director at the Villa, and she was all for it, and we have been going ever since. Each of the four 3rd grade sections goes once a month,”said Andrea Ingersoll, a third grade teacher at Highland School. “We do a lot of different things with the residents,” she said. “Sometimes we’re reading to the residents, which is a really nice way for the kids to practice their fluency, and share some of their favorite books, and for the residents to have that one-on-one interaction with the kids; sometimes we bring seasonal art projects, and the kids really love that they leave those there for the residents, and the residents, from what we hear, like to show off their projects to their family members and visitors; sometimes we’ve had game days, where we’ve brought board games over and they’ve done things like that.”
While the activities provide a nice break in the daily routine for the residents of the Villa, and have naturally led to the development of new friendships, Ingersoll said, “I think the kids benefit even more than the residents. They are learning how to show respect for someone who is older than they are; how to be patient with the residents and repeat things if they need to; how to be accepting, not afraid, of someone in a wheelchair. Some of our students have never been exposed to a nursing home environment before, so when they go, it’s a real highlight for them.”