Fifth grade students from Munson Elementary spent months getting to know someone from another world, even if it was just a few miles away — at the Heather Hill Nursing Home. The students were participating in a special biography project, arranged by fifth grade teacher Leigh Ann Ferguson. Ferguson received a grant from the Chardon Schools Foundation to have her students partner with the nursing home residents to write and publish their biographies.
Thirty Munson students partnered with eleven Heather Hill residents over several visits to get to know each other. The students spent time talking, playing board games and eventually interviewing the residents about their lives. In the process they discovered that the Heather Hill residents shared their interest in books, music or sports, and the nursing home residents had the opportunity to reminisce about happy childhood experiences with someone they called ”my kids.” Once the students had enough information, they wrote an illustrated a biography of each of the residents. The biographies were published into hardbound books, which is what the grant money was used for.
On May 18th the students delivered the personalized books to their special friends. Ferguson says, ‘while it started out as a school project, it went to where it was so much more. This was their senior friend, or their adopted grandparent.” In fact, four of the students went on to visit their “new friend” on their own. Ferguson said her goals were to develop a partnership with a local business, encourage volunteerism, have her students practice listening and being an active member of a conversation about someone else, and to have the kids write for an authentic audience. All that was accomplished, and in the process her students had the opportunity to forge lasting friendships with someone different from themselves.
