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November 16, 2001/Kislev 1, 5762, Vol. 54, No. 10
Connecting two generationsKivel residents return to school
LEISAH NAMM
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 Kivel resident Roselyn Goodell works with first-grader Erica Mavashev at Phoenix Hebrew Academy as part of Dor L'Dor, a new program that "links" generations. Photo by Leisah Namm |
As part of a new program, Dor L'Dor (generation to generation), these seniors participate in school day activities that vary from reading to children to helping with arts and crafts projects or telling stories about their lives.
On Wednesdays, six residents from the Phoenix retirement facility's independent apartments visit The King David School in Scottsdale; on Thursdays, three visit the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.
"It's a chance for generations to work and meet and play together," says Debbie Schechter, a third-grade teacher at the Phoenix Hebrew Academy. "It's a chance for children who don't have grandparents in the Phoenix area to become adopted by a senior from the Kivel Center (and) it allows these older people to feel young again."
The program started in 1999 at the Yavneh Day School in Cincinnati, where Esther Feuerberg, the current head of school at King David, was formerly the head of school.
"I found it to be a very, very worthwhile program," Feuerberg says. "It's a win-win situation for seniors as well as students."
The Valley's program is facilitated by the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation in Cincinnati, which began offering grants for the program in different communities this year. The $2,500 grant covers some of the cost of transportation, supplies, materials and lunch, says Feuerberg.
The program started locally on Oct. 24.
"I think it's going to be a very enriching program for the seniors and for the children," says Rabbi Harris Cooperman, principal of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.
"As far as the adults are concerned, I think it revitalizes them," he says. "When you are able to reconnect with young children, and see the vitality and energy of young children, it's contagious."
He says it means a lot to children on an emotional level since many do not have grandparents living in Phoenix and the connection with a senior citizen teaches and increases respect. "It can only be a great learning experience from the other person's vast array of life experiences that the children can certainly glean from," he says.
The seniors' duties range from classroom to classroom.
"Anywhere from telling their own life story, to being another class member, to being a class assistant," Feuerberg says. "Usually we try to coordinate it so that both the seniors and the class will be enriched by the experience."
At The King David School, the six seniors are at the school 8:45 a.m.-noon Wednesdays, participating in kindergarten through seventh grade.
At the Phoenix Hebrew Academy, the three seniors participate in the first, third and fourth grades from 9:30-noon on Thursdays. Seniors at both schools eat lunch with the children.
"The kids love their seniors," Feuerberg says. "They can't wait for them to come and when they come, they're so warmly welcomed that it makes their day to the point where the seniors allow the children to call them grandma and grandpa in Hebrew."
Parent liaisons for the program are Linda Sharaby for The King David School and Arlynn Bock for the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.
The program is also part of Kivel's goal to make connections with the different community agencies so they're "joined as a unified community," says Hank Arens, therapeutic recreation director at Kivel. "We want the residents to be involved so they feel more in touch."
In addition to this new relationship between Kivel and the two Jewish day schools through Dor L'Dor, Kivel is developing a relationship with the Jess Schwartz Jewish Community High School in Phoenix. Plans include students conducting services, planting flowers and painting murals at Kivel. In exchange, Kivel's independent apartment residents plan to visit the high school to speak about their life experiences.
Arens says that residents are excited to be in classrooms with the children and bring in books and photographs to show them. "They're getting motivated to sharing more of their lives and experiences with the kids," he says.
"I think the expression on the seniors' faces and the joy on the students' faces tells the story," Feuerberg says. "The seniors enjoy being with the children and enjoy their wit and their ability and their brightness, and the youngsters, on the other hand, can enjoy having that extra TLC."
For Kivel resident Roselyn Goodell, a former first-grade teacher in El Paso, Texas, who now spends Thursday mornings at Phoenix Hebrew Academy, the experience "brings back wonderful memories."
To learn more about Dor L'Dor, call Hank Arens at 602-956-3110, ext. 176.