Freshman students in Emily Perez and Betsey Coleman’s Upper School English classes recently welcomed elders from two local senior living centers as part of their annual Oral History Project, which combines language arts with service learning to deepen students’ connections with the elder community.

 

Beginning in 2013, the Oral History Project challenges students to build self confidence by interviewing elders about their life stories. Students strengthen creative writing and oral history skills by transcribing the interviews and creating a variety of creative writing pieces to illustrate what they learned during the interview process.

 

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to get to know the elder community and to hone their writing skills,” says Coleman.

 

Students began the project earlier in the year when they interviewed elders and compiled their stories. Since that time, they have been collaborating in small groups to produce photos, poetry, a creative writing piece, and a “flash fiction” piece, based on a fictionalized incident in the elder’s life.

 

There were laughs and even some tears as elders came together in Sadler to read the pieces the students created. Housing all the content were boxes the students decorated in order to reflect the elders’ lives.

 

Says freshman Caroline Koclanes on what she learned through the process: “This project has allowed me to understand the important stories of our elders. I got the opportunity to write for a real audience. Instead of turning in a paper for a teacher to see, this opportunity has helped in the growth of my writing because it made me pay attention to every little word, and in each word, I tried to capture the emotion of the story. This project also showed me how two people can be total strangers but just moments later have a deep and meaningful conversation about each other’s fascinating lives.”

 

The elders project will culminate with a book written by Coleman and Dr. Jen Kulik, founder and CEO of Silver Kite Community Arts, an organization that develops and facilitates arts experiences that change lives. The two will work on the book as part of a Women’s International Study Center Fellowship, which Coleman was awarded in February.