Conant students, local seniors find connection, common ground

Social Studies teacher Denise Mitchell and English reacher Nathaniel Leonard realized that in order to gain valuable supplemental material for a yearlong genealogy research project that their junior-level American Studies class began earlier this fall, they must go outside the doors of James B. Conant High School.

These teachers wanted their 28 students to make the past more than just words on a page. They sought to find primary sources for their students to meet, question, and engage in lengthy conversation.

Before entering the doors of Sunrise Senior Living Center in Schaumburg on Oct. 21, just up the street from the school, the teachers had armed students with the knowledge that stereotypes, although mainly false, run our thinking as a society, and that it was their job to acknowledge this and disprove these said stereotypes. They discussed the work of Mahatma Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King as reference to regulate their own behaviors if they find themselves in an uncomfortable situation. The two teachers put the ownership on students to destroy these stereotypes. They explained the power within children to alter the set minds of individuals for good, a mind-set students can carry to all aspects of their lives.

Students were welcomed by 14 to 17 seniors who were more than happy to share with the teenagers what it was like to live through the eras that they were studying in class. For an hour and a half, the seniors and students talked as if they were grandparent and grandchild. The energy in the room was undeniable. Faces were lit up, people were laughing, and the dialogue went from a scripted page to genuine conversations. At the conclusion of the interviews, words of appreciation were exchanged from both sides, handshakes and hugs worked their way through the crowd, and everyone walked away with more than what they came with.

Stereotypes destroyed, two separate communities within one greater community had merged. Students left the Center with memories of an enjoyable morning, and ready to analyze the data they collected that spanned three generations of family life from 1940-1970.

In order to thank the seniors for their time and information, the Conant High School community welcomed the Sunrise Senior community on Tuesday, Dec. 15 for a holiday celebration of music, snacks, stories and fellowship - between two seemingly "disconnected" generations.