Letters link middle school students with seniors

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Shirley Terito (l) and Megan Evegan — pen pals during the 2001-02 school year — get a chance to meet face to face at Howell Middle School South.

HOWELL — Although they may live in the same community, the generation gap between children and adults can sometimes span a distance that can’t be measured.

In an effort to bridge the generational distance between 11- and 12-year-old sixth-graders and retired adults, Howell Middle School South teacher Jennifer Camilleri came up with an idea to bring the two groups together.

Camilleri said she contacted Carol Zur, director of the Howell Senior Center, for assistance. Zur paired 10 students with senior partners in the community and Camilleri’s Generation Link project was off and running.

Starting at the beginning of the 2001-02 school year, Camilleri paired up her students with senior pen pals with whom the youngsters stayed in touch for the rest of the year through regular correspondence.

Sixth-grader Stephanie Mackanic said she learned from the Generation Link experience that she can be friends with people of all ages. She has been writing to Kathleen Daniel.

Camilleri said as the year progressed it was clear the children were enjoying themselves. She said they enthusiastically awaited each response from their senior partners.

"I loved watching the students’ faces when the letters came," the teacher said.

Camilleri said that by interacting with the older adults her pupils were able to learn firsthand about significant historical events such as the Depression and World War II.

The teacher said the children "thought it was cool" to be able to hear personal accounts of events they had only read about or seen depicted in motion pictures and on television.

Sixth-grader Annmarie Bombardieri learned writing skills from her Generation Link pen pal experience with Carmen Cabranes.

She said several of the senior citizens who took part in the program do not have family members living nearby and consequently came to appreciate the interaction with the children even more.

Recently, the year of special projects inspired and shared among the seniors and the children through writing was celebrated with a day of events at which the youngsters finally got to meet the people at the other end of the pen.

Camilleri said the day’s fun included the playing of a "game show" during which the children competed in a challenge of "How Well Do You Know Your Senior?"

The youngsters spoke about what they had learned from the experience and a slide show followed showing the seniors the year’s worth of projects they had only read about in the students’ letters.

Seniors from the Howell Senior Center join Howell Middle School South sixth-graders at the Generation Link luncheon.

All of the students shared an appreciation for the time and experience they were given by their senior neighbors. They all also said the year-long experience had given them the opportunity to sharpen their letter-writing skills.

Student Annemarie Bombardieri was grateful for the seniors’ experience as it pertained to the preparation and delivery of baked goods, making sure to cite her gratitude for the delicious desserts the pupils were treated to by their pen pals.

Annemarie pronounced the whole thing an "experience she will remember for a lifetime."