Beaconsfield High School Students Bridge Generations Through Volunteer Work at Kirkland Seniors’ Residence
by Chloë Ranaldi
For six weeks this winter, some 22 Grade 7 students from Beaconsfield High School spent their Thursday afternoons creating friendships with seniors at the Kirkland Manoir seniors’ residence.
The students volunteered as part of a special intergenerational program run in collaboration with the High School and the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence.
The initiative was designed to pair students with Manoir Kirkland residents based on shared interests, allowing them to build bonds, swap stories, and collaborate on memory boards that celebrated each senior’s life journey.
“I was one of the students lucky enough to participate. My partner, Fred, shared vivid memories from his childhood that made me feel like I was right there with him,” said Erica, a Grade 7 student at BHS.
“One thing that I learned was that he’s very good with modern technology, so he was able to trace back his roots from generation to generation, and there was so much cool information. And I learned so many new things,” said Erica.
Iris, a Grade 7 student, who was also partnered with Fred, discovered they both loved animals and sports.
“One of Fred’s nieces painted cows and worked with farmers, and another was actually my horseback riding instructor,” she said. “It made me realize how small the world can be.”
Each student and senior paired throughout the 6-weeks created a personalized board full of photos, mementos, and shared moments, which were presented during a final celebration.
Emma and Ella worked with Ken, a 91-year-old resident whose stories of sailing and building wood masterpieces left a lasting impression on the students.
“He had a contagious laugh,” Emma shared. “And even at 91, he was still really active and he had a lot of memories to share.”
Ken’s parting gift to Emma and Ella was a watercolor painting of a monarch butterfly, which the girls have kept with them all these weeks later.
Teachers: Rosemary Hill, Pat Tramley, Lisa Crowhurst, Emily Ham, and Tania Sarlos who all helped facilitate the volunteer project.
“The project brought the whole community closer,” said Ms. Rosemary Hill, one of the organizing teachers at BHS.
The project originally started three years ago when students were doing an entrepreneur project, and they wanted to connect with seniors. Hill says that through that process they were in contact with the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence and were contacted this year to volunteer for this project.
The previous in-class initiative has since evolved into an after-school volunteer opportunity for all Grade 7 students interested.
Despite their already-packed schedules, the students showed up week after week to meet with their paired seniors, who they had built lasting connections with.
“This project is a testament to the importance of sharing stories, and the simplicity of sharing those narratives and how it brings the generations together,” said Teacher Lisa Crowhurst.
“The most important thing we all took away was connection,” said Crowhurst. “The seniors shared incredible stories of resilience, travel, and family. The students came away with respect for that generation and a new perspective on life.”
Hill added how the students were able to learn real life lessons as well.
“You have fascinating life stories that are shared and show students that you can have a non linear life path,” she said. “And the challenges, and the resilience that some of the seniors shared, and how they persevered through those moments.”
Pat Tramley, the Cultural Animator at Beaconsfield High School says residents at the Kirkland Manoir spoke about how much they looked forward to seeing the students.
“One of the residents said just the [students] walking into the building sparked so much joy. They just bring energy that they miss because they don’t always have it,” said Tramley.
“For a lot of them, their families are far away and they don’t have the chance to spend time with young people. So it was really important for this entrepreneur project to be able to offer that.”
Cynthia Lapointe, is the community development project manager at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence.
She says the project is part of the centre’s mission of compassionate communities, which is a global movement that began in the 1990s.
The core idea she says is that “in every community, there are people who are vulnerable—those at the end of life, experiencing loneliness, grief, or isolation. Supporting them should not fall solely on the healthcare system; rather, the entire community must come together to offer care and connection.”
Lapointe says the goal is to build compassionate communities, which includes intergenerational programs and initiatives that promote empathy, understanding, and support among community members.
Lapointe says the project aims to bring two generations together who are far apart in age and who are very different and yet share similarities nonetheless. For example, she says both generations were the populations most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and isolation felt during that time.
She says “we want to connect youth and seniors, help address isolation and create memories through art and conversations.”
Lapointe says it’s an opportunity for students to learn about seniors and for teens to learn about seniors. She says it also gives seniors the opportunity to share their life experiences they’ve learned and pass it on to students.
“It enhances self esteem for both generations and provides companionship and an amazing relationship between these two groups,” she says.
The students receive an activity tool kit with materials and instructions, and after the introductory meetings, for 4 sessions students create a memory board of their life.
They include photos and special moments of the person’s whole life.
“Students help put together the collage and while doing so get to know each other and help find pictures or pieces,” said Lapointe. “For example, if someone grew up in Germany a student can find photos online and look up the location.”
Finally, the groups present their board to the whole group and explain what it is and share their person’s life experience– to which many people had the opportunity to learn something new about their neighbours.
The BHS students and staff also plan to host the seniors this year for a High Tea, so that the seniors could visit the students this time around.
Lapointe says the goal is to “eventually have more toolkits, some on music of the ages, and another on cooking and recipe sharing, with the same idea of passing knowledge on to schools and to continue intergenerational sessions.”
This project was more than just volunteering. It was about listening, learning, and discovering that despite age and time, everyone has stories worth sharing.
