It was the second consecutive year the middle school invited residents from Lincoln Glen Manor located at 2671 Plummer Ave., to share part of their day and enjoy some time outside a senior home and nursing facility environment.

The visit was part of the school's "Care Week"—Nov. 18 through Nov. 22—where students focused on "caring about school, community, ourselves and others", said Erin McGee, Willow Glen Middle School activity director and leadership teacher.

The idea for "Care Week" came from a leadership retreat the students attended last September. The retreat was sponsored by The Cornerstone Project—a countywide collaboration of community leaders and partner organizations working together to provide youth with support, boundaries and opportunities to thrive.

This month's "Care Week" continued the process of The Cornerstone Project by focusing on building school spirit and reaching out to others in the community, McGee said.

As soon as the Lincoln Glen Manor residents exited the bus, students were paired up and led the seniors into the decorated library. Groups of four sat together at the tables and got to know one another.

Seventh-grade leadership student Aimee Otterson acted as the host, asking the groups to tell one another their favorite color, animal and memorable experience.

Vonla Burman, 85, told her partner, seventh-grader Jennifer Schnabel, "My favorite color is red, my favorite animals are puppies, and my most memorable experience was meeting my husband at Wheaton College in Illinois."

The school event was exciting for Schnabel because she only has one grandparent still living and talking with Burman filled a void, she said.

"I'm thrilled to see the seniors come," Schnabel said before the bus with the visitors arrives. "I get to ask them about special experiences in their lives, like if they've been in any wars."

Burman is the resident who has lived at Lincoln Glen Manor the longest, though she's not the oldest. Having lived at the home for 15 years, events like the visit to the middle school "brighten my day," she said. And the children benefit as well.

"The kids lose the fear of being around older people and gain respect for them," said Principal Darla Briggs. "They learn that they're regular people with lots of experience."

Photograph courtesy of Willow Glen Middle School Sharing a Meal: Lincoln Glen Manor seniors visited Willow Glen Middle School and shared breakfast and stories with the students. WGMS leadership students (from left) Bonnie Tran, Beatrice Rios, Kathryn Cremer and Jennifer Schnabel participated in the school's 'Care Week' program.

Burman, who has five grandchildren, said the singing was "an unexpected treat."

Some guests sang along with the piano accompaniment. The piano was brought into the library especially for the event.

While the leadership students ate breakfast with the 10 guests, students from various elective classes shared their work.

The art class described how they made architectural drawings—with graphite—of the buildings around campus and passed around a sketchbook of their work to each table. Easels with artwork were also on display throughout the library and available for viewing throughout the breakfast.

The French class sang "Alouette," and the Gypsy Club—dressed in bright red and green skirts with bells tied around their waists—performed a dance. The robotics class demonstrated the steps involved in building a robot and programming it to accomplish missions for competition. The ceramics club explained the process involved in making various bowls and vases, and the yearbook and newspaper classes described the intricacies of producing published materials.

This event also provides the students with an opportunity to practice their public speaking, Briggs said.

"Schools have changed quite a bit since I went to school," said Edward Sand, 80, who was paired with eighth-grader Kathryn Cremer. "We had reading, writing and arithmetic. We never dreamed of doing some of the things these kids are doing."

Spending the morning at the middle school was a homecoming for Ralph Phaff. He taught band at the school from 1953 until 1960. He eventually retired as vice principal from Hoover Middle School in 1979.

"I'd like to get over here more often to see some of the school musicals," he said while boarding the bus. "I always like to see what children are doing. Next time I will tell more residents at the home to come to this."

The week also included students purchasing "caregrams" to send to fellow classmates. Throughout the week, students were rewarded with "caught being good" pencils when they did something good, which represented caring about "ourselves," McGee said.

"Our class has talked about meeting people in our community and reaching out to elders and people outside our home and family setting," McGee said. "This builds a sense of belonging and self-esteem and the kids feel better inside."