Project brings students, seniors together

Burchell High School’s journalism class and the residents of the Wasilla Senior Center met on Sept. 30 as part of a project that is bridging the gap between youth and the aged.

The Intergenerational Project encompasses interviewing, listening and writing skills as well as a community service component. Before the visit, the class compiled a list of questions which ranging from most cherished memory to past careers.

Upon their arrival at the center, each student was then paired with an elder to interview. There was laughter and some tears as the students heard the seniors’ incredible life stories.

After the interviews were conducted, each student had a photo op with the seniors. Refreshments were served which gave everyone the opportunity to mingle and to get to know the group as a whole.

The journalism class will be composing biographies based on the interviews, which will later be compiled into a book. A future field trip to deliver the anthology is being planned for the end of the month and students will have the oppoårtunity to see the seniors once again.

The anthology will be housed in the Wasilla Senior Center Archives and the school’s library.

Donna Avery is a student at Burchell High School. Lisa Boswell teaches English there.