Project bridges gap between young and old Producing memoirs helps students gain a perspective on history

Project bridges gap between young and old
Producing memoirs helps students gain a perspective on history

JEFF HUNTLEY Seniors from Little Silver, as they arrive at Red Bank Regional High School last month for a creative writing program on their memoirs, are greeted by students.

LITTLE SILVER — Separated by generations, high school students and area senior citizens had little trouble finding the common threads that connect us all, regardless of age.

Through a project in the Red Bank Regional High School creative writing program, the students were able to put human faces on some historical events and gain a perspective they otherwise would not get, said Karen Haefelein, creative writing teacher at the school.

For the seniors it was a chance to see that, even with all the changes in society, today’s young people are not all that different from when they themselves were that age.

The students enrolled in the program had been spending time with residents of the Sycamore, a senior assisted-living facility located in Shrewsbury. Over the course of the hour-and-a-half get-togethers every other week, the students compiled information and wrote the memoirs of the seniors.

"Doing this made me realize that everybody has an interesting story," observed Theresa Lee, a 10th-grade student from Bradley Beach.

"We got to learn a lot about the past," said Lindsey Distasio, an 11th-grader who also participated in the project.

One Sycamore resident, Haefelein said, actually worked on the Manhattan Project, the government project during World War II to create the atomic bomb. And another student met with a woman who worked in a defense plant during the second world war, a real-life "Rosie the Riveter."

"Just hearing their views of it, hearing the voices instead of just reading a book, was incredible," said 10th-grade student Elizabeth Nogueira of Ocean about her experiences with the writing assignment.

"We got a new outlook on life," Lee said.

According to Haefelein, the idea for the assignment came from Cecile Felgendreger, a basic-skills teacher at the regional high school.

Felgendreger, who had been working on her master’s degree at Kean University, Union, has just completed her thesis which dealt with intergenerational education.

For Felgendreger, the process of the kids meeting the seniors became a rewarding and enriching experience for all the participants.

"They learned a lot about the universality of the human condition," Felgendreger said. "The kids had never had a chance to hear these stories."

"We got a new understanding of their thoughts," Lee explained. "We were able to get inside their heads a little more."

Bonds also have been formed between the high school students and Sycamore residents, and hopefully they will become lasting ones.

She noted that students have said they would continue to visit The Sycamore, and one student said she planned to introduce her mother to the woman she profiled and all three would have lunch together.

"We had some very tender moments," Felgendreger said.

Nicole Serluco, director of social events for the Sycamore, said the residents who participated found it fun and uplifting.

"They really enjoyed it," Serluco said. "They got to tell their stories to the kids, and they started to think of them as their grandkids."

"We talked, and it was great, interesting and fun," said Bea Rosenberg, an 80-year-old resident of the Sycamore.

As a young woman, Rosenberg contributed to the government’s research on the atomic bomb while attending the University of Chicago.

While her own experience at the cutting edge of technology as a young woman is extraordinary, Rosenberg expressed amazement over what the future holds for young people of today.

"I learned what an exciting time it is and how fortunate they are to be on the cusp of a new century," Rosenberg said.

There was also a real connection, she contended. "It was like bridging the gap between young and old," she said.

"It was a joyful experience and I enjoyed it very much," she added.

The students also took away quite a bit from the experience.

"I was impressed with the way they (the students) connected with the seniors," Haefelein observed.

"I felt they kind of opened up to us," Lee said.

"And you know what?" added Nogueira, "Senior citizens aren’t as fragile as you might think."