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Community
On a bright sunny, chilly January morning, a busload of PreKinders from West Iron County Schools’ GSRP Class, bundled up and drove across town to Iron River Care Center. Once they arrived, WIC’s littlest scholars, excitedly bounced down the steps and skip noisily into the Iron River Care Center to visit their ‘Forever Friends’. It is obvious by the hooting and hollering, it is their favorite day of the month - for the four-year-olds and the residents of the nursing home, alike. Quickly, they find ‘their person’ and pull up a chair next to their favorite ‘Forever Friend’, or even jump into their lap. During the next couple of noisy hours, over sips of hot chocolate and nibbles of cookies, these littlest Wykons made Valentines together, visited, read stories and sang songs together with the residents. The PreKinders laughed and giggled while the residents told stories of long ago, and the little ones listened.
Mrs. Maloney, a 35-year educator at WIC Schools, shares that “Opportunities like these show us that friendship knows no age. People three and four generations, and eighty and ninety years apart can develop beautiful relationships.” This intergenerational program between West Iron County Schools and Iron River Care Center began eight years ago.
“’Building an intergenerational program has always been a passion project for me,” shares Mrs. Denise Maloney, who has taught four-year-olds in WIC’s GSRP Early Childhood Program for her entire teaching career - 35 years. “I knew that it was important, bringing these two age groups together. They both have so much love to share. Partnerships like these, give children opportunities to accept people with disabilities. Children have the opportunity to reduce their fear of older adults and these two groups become kind of like extended family, where they can listen and share stories. Visits like these enhance opportunities for children and people of all ages to have frequent interaction. Forty-three percent of older people experience social isolation. Visits like these help. We live in a very transient society. Families often do not live near older family members, grandparents, etc. These visits allow for a connection that is meaningful and positive for both age groups. It is a powerful community connection for our school and community. We feel incredibly blessed to have this partnership with Iron River Care Center.”
It’s not just the residents and children that love these visits. When Mrs. Maloney shares photos of their visits with their ‘Forever Friends’ on the school social media page - literally thousands of people view them. “People love seeing the pictures of these two groups together. They just make people feel happy. It’s really just as simple as that,” shares Mrs. Maloney. “Families of the residents reach out to me and say how much it means to them to see their parent/grandparent smiling, laughing, and engaging with the children.” Staff at the nursing home share that there is a ‘level of happiness’, that extends throughout the day when the children visit. Some residents don’t remember their visits an hour after the children have left, but for that hour of the visit, they were happy.
While academics are an important part of WIC’s Schools Early Childhood Program, Mrs. Maloney shares that “equally important is helping our young children to develop social/emotional skills such as kindness and empathy towards others. This intergenerational program has a duality to it, in that it also serves as a service project that helps to teach children that even though they are LITTLE, they can help others in a BIG way. I hope that they develop a lifelong love for serving selflessly, helping others and making our world a better place.”
West Iron County Schools will be having Preschool registration coming up in April for the 2024-25 school year. Children must be four years old by Dec. 1 to enroll in the GSRP Program, which is free and four days/week. Children must be three years old to enroll in the Tot-Lot Program, and it is one day a week. Watch for more information in the next few months in the Reporter and on the WIC Schools Social Media Platforms. Parents can also follow ‘Mrs. Maloney’s Preschool Classroom’ on Facebook for more information or email Mrs. Denise Maloney, WIC Schools Early Childhood Coordinator, dmaloney@westiron.org.