Having Senior Moments: 10th Grade English Students Learn From Their Elders
English teacher Mac Caplan recognizes that Rivers alumni aren’t exactly going to be able to remember every single project they completed in high school. “They might forget [Emily Brontë’s novel] Wuthering Heights,” Caplan says, “but they likely won’t forget the relationships they made through Sages & Seekers.”
English teacher Mac Caplan recognizes that Rivers alumni aren’t exactly going to be able to remember every single project they completed in high school. “They might forget [Emily Brontë’s novel] Wuthering Heights,” Caplan says, “but they likely won’t forget the relationships they made through Sages & Seekers.”
A program in which high school students spend eight weeks connecting with and profiling local senior citizens, Sages & Seekers represents a unique way for students (the “Seekers”) to improve their writing and interviewing skills while learning more about the rich lives of their elders (the “Sages”).
This past trimester, the 10 students in Caplan’s 10th grade English class were each assigned to a specific person at the Natick Senior Center to chat with and learn about over the course of two months. The activity pushed many students’ comfort levels, particularly in the earlier stages of the process. “Some students are naturally really shy, so the prospect of talking to a stranger for an hour straight was a daunting task,” says Caplan, who himself wrote a profile for the project. “But ultimately, a lot of the kids developed really strong relationships with their ‘Sages.’”
Indeed, students seemed up for the challenge, forming strong bonds with the seniors over the course of the 8-week project. “This whole experience was incredible,” says Megan Kerbs ’12. “I learned so much about my senior citizen Penny, and I was surprised by the fact that, although there is such a large age gap, we still relate so much; the issues Penny had with family, friends, boys, school, and more, are just as relevant to my life today.”
Sages & Seekers was founded under unorthodox circumstances. Natick resident Elly Katz was driving and listening to a speech on the radio, and the speaker suddenly warned of a looming apocalypse, and said that the only way we could change this trajectory was if we all engaged in something that we are truly passionate about. “From the time I exited Route 9 and headed to my house in Natick, I had committed to start the program,” says Katz.
Katz herself had always enjoyed spending time with the elderly and felt like they were an underappreciated and even ignored group in modern times, and one that appreciates exchanges with students. “Seniors want to connect with young people,” she says. “They gravitate towards reconnecting with their own memories of youth.”
Caplan plans to repeat the experience with next year’s students at Rivers, and has high hopes for the program’s continued success. “The reason it works,” says Katz, “is because of the magic when these two groups come together.”
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A program in which high school students spend eight weeks connecting with and profiling local senior citizens, Sages & Seekers represents a unique way for students (the “Seekers”) to improve their writing and interviewing skills while learning more about the rich lives of their elders (the “Sages”).
This past trimester, the 10 students in Caplan’s 10th grade English class were each assigned to a specific person at the Natick Senior Center to chat with and learn about over the course of two months. The activity pushed many students’ comfort levels, particularly in the earlier stages of the process. “Some students are naturally really shy, so the prospect of talking to a stranger for an hour straight was a daunting task,” says Caplan, who himself wrote a profile for the project. “But ultimately, a lot of the kids developed really strong relationships with their ‘Sages.’”
Indeed, students seemed up for the challenge, forming strong bonds with the seniors over the course of the 8-week project. “This whole experience was incredible,” says Megan Kerbs ’12. “I learned so much about my senior citizen Penny, and I was surprised by the fact that, although there is such a large age gap, we still relate so much; the issues Penny had with family, friends, boys, school, and more, are just as relevant to my life today.”
Sages & Seekers was founded under unorthodox circumstances. Natick resident Elly Katz was driving and listening to a speech on the radio, and the speaker suddenly warned of a looming apocalypse, and said that the only way we could change this trajectory was if we all engaged in something that we are truly passionate about. “From the time I exited Route 9 and headed to my house in Natick, I had committed to start the program,” says Katz.
Katz herself had always enjoyed spending time with the elderly and felt like they were an underappreciated and even ignored group in modern times, and one that appreciates exchanges with students. “Seniors want to connect with young people,” she says. “They gravitate towards reconnecting with their own memories of youth.”
Caplan plans to repeat the experience with next year’s students at Rivers, and has high hopes for the program’s continued success. “The reason it works,” says Katz, “is because of the magic when these two groups come together.”
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