Technology Knows No Age: Sages & Seekers Goes Remote

“The heart of the program remains,” says Mac Caplan, English department chair. Sages & Seekers has been a required portion of the tenth grade English curriculum for several years, so the basic structure is very familiar, and students say it’s an experience they look forward to. Caplan says he realized early on—even before the decision to close campus was made—that it wouldn’t be safe to bring 90 senior citizens to campus in the current climate. “We moved quickly to imagine it as a remote experience,” says Caplan.

Everyone involved—teachers, students, sages, and the parents who recruit the participants—was committed to making sure the program would move forward. But, says Caplan, no one deserves more credit than the parent volunteers, who were quickly able to pivot. The groundwork for Sages & Seekers is laid months in advance, as parents take on the task of lining up the 90 or so senior participants. They work their contacts, reach out to senior centers, reconnect with past participants, and do their utmost to ensure that there’s a one-to-one ratio of Sages to Seekers.

As luck would have it, and unlike in past years, this year’s recruitment effort was so successful that there was a waitlist of sages. That proved to be crucial, as there was some attrition after the program went virtual, with some Sages unable or reluctant to participate remotely. Thanks to the waitlist, though, the program launched with a full slate of elders. “The program might have fallen apart without the hard work of the parent committee, Ingrid Cornetta, Laura Dailey, Jen Douglas, Laura Miller, Lisa Foley, Jen Helzberg, and Mary Ross, headed by Kena Thompson and Betsy Reale,” says Caplan. “They did this last push to fill out the classes, as they were working from home, getting their kids set up for remote learning, and managing their own households.”

Once the Sages were on board, the logistics needed to be addressed. The tenth-grade English teachers reached out to each Sage, making sure they had the means to connect with students. “The majority are using FaceTime,” says Caplan, “but a handful are using Zoom or phone calls.”

Typically, the program begins with a “speed dating” session at which students and seniors meet and chat, enabling students to express their preferences in choosing a partner. This time, the teachers simply did their best to match students with Sages. “Thus far, we’re hearing we did a decent job,” says Caplan. “After last week, when we launched, the students were so excited about their Sages and the conversations they had.”

Sam Lyons ’22 is enthusiastic about his sessions with his partner, retired high school English teacher Brooks Goddard, a first-time participant in the program. “He’s a really nice guy, and reasonably tech savvy,” says Lyons, adding, “I don’t feel like I’m being patronized; I feel like we’re equals, which is a surprise.”

For his part, Goddard says that he thinks being paired with Lyons is “an excellent match.” The two have chatted over FaceTime, and they hit it off right from the start. The technology, says Goddard, is a minor annoyance, not a major impediment. “Obviously, everyone would have preferred to do it in person,” says Goddard. “But the guts of the program is really the one-to-one exchange, and that can happen very fluently over FaceTime.” Lyons says he’s grateful for the current technologies that make it all possible. “It’s better now than it would have been 20 years ago,” he says. “That’s the real silver lining.” Lyons says that he still hopes to meet Goddard in person once restrictions are lifted—even if that happens after the Sages & Seekers program has concluded.

Marin Broderick ’22 has been meeting with her Sage, Roland Gibson, via Zoom. “It’s going great,” she reports. “He’s an amazing person.” Gibson, like Goddard, is a retired teacher, and Broderick says he enjoys quizzing her on history—a subject she says she’s “not very good at.” But conversation with Goddard has flowed easily, she reports, adding that meeting him online, rather than in person, has allayed some of the anxiety she might typically feel in chatting with a stranger.

Gibson is a veteran Sage who’s worked with the program for several years. Like most people who’ve reached the age of Sage, he’s seen his share of life, good and bad. As such, the Sages may be in a position to impart some timely wisdom about prevailing in challenging circumstances. Gibson certainly seems unfazed by the need to take a different approach this time around. “The technology is different, but the content, the essence, is the same. I endorse the technological approach, because it’s what we’ve got,” he says, invoking a time-tested phrase that can apply to any number of situations, including the current one: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”