Within minutes of meeting his pen pal for the first time, Herb Schwedock said it felt like talking to a longtime friend.
Schwedock was one of 27 residents from NewBridge on the Charles, a retirement community in Dedham, participating in a yearlong pen pal program with Riverdale School.
After exchanging monthly letters since September, the residents and fifth-graders met for the first time on June 1.
“The dialogue went easily. It was as if we had known each other for years. If you ask anyone, they’ll tell you the same,” Schwedock said. “I was in love with them. I wanted to take them home.”
His wife, Estelle Schwedock, also participated in the program. She said the experience was “enlightening.”
Many of the residents’ own children and grandchildren are spread across the country and the letters helped them reconnect with younger generations, she said.
“We’re in this kind of enclave of older people, and we really don’t have a relationship with the younger people,” the 79-year-old said. “This really brought us back to the reality of what younger children are thinking, what they’re doing.”
The experience tied into students’ curriculum for history and social studies as well as writing. After visiting the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, students asked residents about their memories of the former president.
Estelle told one of her pen pals that she was feeding her young child when Kennedy was assassinated, and remembers “a feeling of mourning that covered the whole nation.”
Estelle has grandchildren who are 12 and 17, but she has never shared that story with them.
Lynda Bussgang, multigenerational program coordinator at NewBridge, set up the program with Doris Claypool, former principal of Riverdale Elementary. Claypool stepped down earlier this month. Claypool said she was thrilled with results of the partnership.
“It was an opportunity to have an intergenerational activity that was fulfilling for everyone involved,” Claypool wrote in an email. “I know the children learned a great deal, especially historically, from the residents.”
Bernadette Costello, fifth grade teacher at Riverdale, said she plans to continue the pen pal program, which she described as “a wonderful experience for everyone involved.”
She said her students were surprised to learn some of their pen pals’ diverse experiences and interests. A woman had escaped Nazi Germany, and another recently hiked across Bhutan and India for a cultural study.
Bussgang said for some of the residents writing was therapeutic. A few of the seniors suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s, and recalling stories from the past became part of their mental exercises.
Estelle said she already eager for the fall to start getting letters again.
“I couldn’t wait to get the letter from the child to find out what they were going to tell us, and see the inquiries about our lives,” she said.
Within minutes of meeting his pen pal for the first time, Herb Schwedock said it felt like talking to a longtime friend.
Schwedock was one of 27 residents from NewBridge on the Charles, a retirement community in Dedham, participating in a yearlong pen pal program with Riverdale School.
After exchanging monthly letters since September, the residents and fifth-graders met for the first time on June 1.
“The dialogue went easily. It was as if we had known each other for years. If you ask anyone, they’ll tell you the same,” Schwedock said. “I was in love with them. I wanted to take them home.”
His wife, Estelle Schwedock, also participated in the program. She said the experience was “enlightening.”
Many of the residents’ own children and grandchildren are spread across the country and the letters helped them reconnect with younger generations, she said.
“We’re in this kind of enclave of older people, and we really don’t have a relationship with the younger people,” the 79-year-old said. “This really brought us back to the reality of what younger children are thinking, what they’re doing.”
The experience tied into students’ curriculum for history and social studies as well as writing. After visiting the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, students asked residents about their memories of the former president.
Estelle told one of her pen pals that she was feeding her young child when Kennedy was assassinated, and remembers “a feeling of mourning that covered the whole nation.”
Estelle has grandchildren who are 12 and 17, but she has never shared that story with them.
Lynda Bussgang, multigenerational program coordinator at NewBridge, set up the program with Doris Claypool, former principal of Riverdale Elementary. Claypool stepped down earlier this month. Claypool said she was thrilled with results of the partnership.
“It was an opportunity to have an intergenerational activity that was fulfilling for everyone involved,” Claypool wrote in an email. “I know the children learned a great deal, especially historically, from the residents.”
Bernadette Costello, fifth grade teacher at Riverdale, said she plans to continue the pen pal program, which she described as “a wonderful experience for everyone involved.”
She said her students were surprised to learn some of their pen pals’ diverse experiences and interests. A woman had escaped Nazi Germany, and another recently hiked across Bhutan and India for a cultural study.
Bussgang said for some of the residents writing was therapeutic. A few of the seniors suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s, and recalling stories from the past became part of their mental exercises.
Estelle said she already eager for the fall to start getting letters again.
“I couldn’t wait to get the letter from the child to find out what they were going to tell us, and see the inquiries about our lives,” she said.
