New program at Pine Brook
is link for students, seniors
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
DAVE BENJAMIN Ed Walley (c) teaches Pine Brook School, Manalapan, pupils (l-r) Ashley Wiscovitch, John Palladino, Alex Fleming, Emily Potter and Alex Bigelsen how to play a game of football using a cardboard playing field and a deck of cards to call plays. Walley is a participant in a program that brings seniors into the school to interact with children.
MANALAPAN — America’s generations are coming together at the Pine Brook School.
Fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders at the Pease Road school are joining with senior citizens to enjoy meaningful interaction in a mutually rewarding educational partnership called the Generation Connection.
The program was developed by township resident Stephanie Cayne-Meiskin with assistance from Pine Brook School Principal Tom Sherman and Elaine McNamara, director of the Manalapan Senior Center.
"It’s a give and take on both sides," Sherman said. "Many of the children have grandparents who live in retirement communities and they don’t get a chance to see them so much. The children get to see seniors who are their own grandparents’ age, so they can feel comfortable."
Sherman said the children are extremely polite when they are involved with the seniors, behaving as if they are with their own grandparents.
"From the seniors’ point of view it gives them a chance to see how education has changed over the years and to see what the children are reading," said the principal. "When the children see them in the building and say hello, it makes them (the seniors) feel really good."
Sherman called it a win-win situation for everyone involved.
"It’s exciting to see the seniors involved," Cayne-Meiskin said. "In (Pine Brook) the seniors are celebrities who have become an integral part of our learning environment. Our senior volunteers have added a new dimension to learning at Pine Brook School.
"We have worked hard to accommodate the interests and schedules of our volunteers," she said. "In addition to our read aloud schedule, we have volunteers who assist in art and music education, work with small groups of children in various subject areas, share career and other personal experiences in a lunch time program, and spend time teaching old-time games to the children in an after-school program."
One such group is led by senior Ed Walley.
"How does a football game start?" Walley asked a group of youngsters during a recent visit.
As he takes a coin out of his pocket, Walley explains that a game starts with a coin flip.
"You guys call," Walley said, flipping the coin in the air. "Heads, your choice. OK, you want to kick off. You guys can get the ball."
With a deck of cards in hand, each indicating a football play, Walley maneuvers the players who have a choice to either run or pass.
"You just passed the ball six yards," Walley said as he called the action on the playing field. "Third down, two yards to go. A 13-yard pass, complete. You guys better defend against them."
Walley told the children that’s the way football games, and many other games, were played when he was a youngster. There were no handheld electronic games and no personal computers with CD-ROM games.
"Touchdown," Walley shouts as he pulls a card from the deck and reads it out loud. "Now you can kick for the extra point. You guys lead 7-6."
"Our volunteers are dedicated and excited about investing their time and energy in the education of our children," Cayne-Meiskin said. "Even better, the kids are eager to get to know them, to listen to them, interact with them and to learn from them."
In another room, senior Jennie Rosenblum read to a group of children.
"It was a rough day on the inexperienced crew," Rosenblum read. "The wind was whipping around the rigging, and the decks were tossed to and fro."
Seniors like Rosenblum, Esta Saltzhauer, Matthew Kibrick and Edna Siegel provide reading experiences for the children; some read to the children; some read with the children, as the children follow along; and some interact with the children by taking turns reading.
The reading leads into questions and answer periods, while some groups delve into serious discussions as ideas are exchanged or debated.
Other seniors who participate are Caroline Brown, Sam Brown, Esther Canmeyer, Joan Holtzberg, Florence Janal, Lou Limmer, Mary Neglia, Laura Rothstein, Fran Schulof, Leo Shargel and Ruth Zaikov.
Relationships and friendships that are formed and developed through the partnership are true reflections of the success of the program, Cayne-Meiskin said.
The children back her up on that assessment.
"I think it’s really nice," said fifth-grader Allison Diamond. "They (the volunteers) get to interact with the children. It makes us happy and it makes them happy."
Sixth-grader Fran Trerotola said, "It is exciting and fun listening to Caroline talk and being read to. It’s interesting to learn about words you don’t know (like babushka) that come from another language."
Fifth-grader Amanda Schissel explained, "They were helping us with multiplication facts and reading stories. Last week, they listened to us read our stories and told us what they thought."
"It was nice and fun," said sixth-grader Bryan Belloff. "She (Brown) picked a good book that told us a good story."
"The Generation Connection fills a void for seniors," McNamara said, adding that the township senior center provides support services by assisting in volunteer recruitment.
For more information regarding the Generation Connection program, contact Stephanie Cayne-Meiskin or Tom Sherman at Pine Brook School, (732) 786-2800, or the Manalapan Senior Center at (732) 446-8401.