During a visit to a public middle school, a guest was surprised to see the shell of a small sail boat under construction in the school's allied arts room. The teacher explained that each year the students work with a local retired naval officer who volunteers to help students build the small boat as a woodworking project. At the end of the school year, the finished vessel is auctioned, and the proceeds go back to the school to support the ongoing development of allied arts for middle school students. In this school, the allied arts curriculum included teaching students about building other useful items such as bookcases for the local library and preschool furniture for day care centers, and service projects such as planning and preparing breakfasts to deliver to senior citizens. Many communities like this small New England coastal village are discovering the unique educational benefits of intergenerational programming.

"Youth development experts tell us that young people need to have a greater role in the community and try their talents in nurturing environments," says Jane Angelis, director of the Intergenerational Initiative. Such a scenario is being played out in classrooms throughout the country. In Illinois, the teacher-student roles may be reversed as students teach older adults to use computers and access the Internet. They beam with pride as they talk about their teaching skills. "We can't touch the keyboard when we are teaching," commented one student, "The senior citizens learn by doing; we can't do it for them." Older adults taking computer courses from young students applaud the skills of their young teachers: "They understand how to teach us and how difficult it is sometimes to grasp the idea." Students teaching senior citizens is a growing trend, one that offers a win/win situation for everyone involved.

Involving older adults in education as tutors and mentors has been part of the Illinois Intergenerational Initiative since 1985, when representatives from universities, community colleges, state agencies, and volunteer groups met together to discuss the possibility of forming a statewide coalition. In a recent phone interview, Jan Costello, the communications director for the Illinois Department of Aging, indicated that Illinois is making a strong commitment to the state's youth, senior citizens, and education through the ongoing development of intergenerational programs. In 1993, the state piloted a new program called Illinois READS in six different schools. Illinois READS is an acronym for Retirees Educating and Assisting in the Development of Students. The program involves a network of retiree groups such as Retired Teachers, AARP, and Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). The program was designed to help young children improve their reading skills by linking each child with a senior volunteer. The READS program relied on the enthusiasm, experience, and skills of the older adults to motivate younger children and their parents and to encourage a lifelong desire for learning.

Since 1993, the intergenerational initiative has grown dramatically and now includes approximately 1,500 schools and over 7,500 volunteers across the state of Illinois. New projects may engage volunteers in a variety of activities other than reading because READS encourages the development of programs based on school and community needs. Currently the State Department on Aging is working with VISTA volunteers, who meet with seniors in the community and link them with school-based programs. Senior volunteers may help in the school library, teach a craft or skill, help with math or the sciences, share job and life experiences, assist in the school office, tutor individual students, or assist with the arts. School projects or activities are limited only by the imagination of the volunteers, teachers, and school administrators. Volunteers from the familiar Foster Grandparents Program, AARP, and RSVP continue to participate, along with new participants and projects such as:

Bubbes and Babies, sponsored by the Council for Jewish Elderly Group Living. Young mothers and their babies interact weekly with surrogate grandparents.

Grandma Please, sponsored by Chicago's Uptown Center Hull House. Links latchkey youngsters during the critical after-school hours with a senior volunteer through an intergenerational telephone line.

The Homework Helpers, sponsored by the Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association and the local branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW). Links volunteers with middle school students who need help completing their homework during an after-school program located in the basement of a local church.

Other programs, such as Wee Care, Inc. in Morton, Illinois or The Snow Removal Resource Exchange in DeKalb, engage students in helping seniors by providing meals for seniors, gardening and planting flowers, or shoveling a senior's sidewalk and driveway clear of snow. The Intergenerational Initiative Web site, coordinated by Jane Angelis at Southern Illinois University, provides easy access to new intergenerational developments within the state of Illinois.

The Department on Aging also has a variety of resources available for schools or communities interested in forming their own intergenerational program. Ms. Costello suggests the following steps:

1. Call the Department at 800-252-8966 to indicate your interest or share your program idea.

2. Ask the Department to forward their program "Tool Kit," which includes recruiting information, suggestions on projects, a sample news release, and resources on how to engage your community in the process.

3. Request more information on local organizations that may be willing to assist with the program's efforts.

4. Share program progress and information with the Department so that successes and challenges can be included in the intergenerational newsletter and dispersed widely throughout the state.

For more information:

Illinois Intergenerational Initiative
Internet: http://www.siu.edu/offices/iii

Jan Costello
Communications Director
Illinois Department on Aging
421 East Capitol Ave. #100
Springfield, IL 72701-1789
Telephone: 217-785-9020 or 800-252-8966

Jane Angelis, Ph.D., Director
Intergenerational Initiative
Mailcode 4341 Anthony Hall 110
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901
Telephone: 618-453-1186
Fax: 618-453-4295
Internet: http://www.siu.edu/offices/iii

AARP
Internet: http://www.aarp.org

Foster Grandparents Program
Internet: http://www.fostergrandparents.org