The MLRA Education Action Committee held its back-to-school planning on August 5 this year to get an early start on a variety of activities that bring seniors and school children together.
Now in its third year, the program first emphasized matching resident volunteers with educators in the Medford School district’s elementary and middle schools. Activities now include working with individual students, assisting with classroom lessons, and being a pen pal to one or more students. In all cases, the goal is providing support for the teachers and following their instructions. Those volunteering in the schools need to fill out a form for the school district and be fingerprinted. Steering committee members facilitate this and can provide transportation to the finger printing office if necessary.
Pen pal volunteers need not be fingerprinted. They receive their instructions from the program’s resident coordinator who works with the teachers. For example, last year, one second grade teacher asked for help with sentence formation and penmanship from volunteers. The students wrote their letters in composition books, and the coordinator collected and delivered them to resident pen pals. They wrote back in the notebooks, providing the teacher with an ongoing record of the exchanges. Residents who participated had to brush up on their penmanship and reported that second graders share the most amazing things.
One volunteer described her experience working in an elementary school library. She was not a trained librarian but didn’t need to be to check books in and out and talk with individual students. She recommended placing more volunteers in the other school libraries, where these tasks needs to be done every day.
The committee plans to arrange student concerts, receptions, and a potential student art show to bring students and their teachers to Medford Leas to interact with residents. Last year, student musicians brought their lunches and ate with some of the residents. More interactions will be organized when possible.
This fall, there is a school board election on the ballot, and the committee wants to make information on the candidates available to residents. They also will continue attending school board meetings to learn about the issues facing our local schools. They encourage other residents to do so and will help arrange transportation for interested residents.
The scheduled monthly meeting is the first Tuesday of each month from 2- 3 pm, location to be announced. Volunteers for working with students are always welcome. The committee welcomes suggestions for activities and help organizing them. Medford Leas has a tradition of interacting with the surrounding community, and working with and for students is especially rewarding.
Kathy Riley