Learning about giving back
Kings County students volunteering time at local seniors’ homes
Kings County students are getting a first-hand lesson in giving back to the community through regular visits to senior care facilities in the area.
Music teacher Paul Hutten has been taking his band students on visits to seniors’ homes for more than 16 years. Hutten says as a youth, he used to play in church and for seniors’ homes services, so he thought it would be a good idea to take his students, too.
Starting with his students at Evangeline Middle School and then at KCA, he now takes his current Central Kings Grade 9 band students twice a year. The group rents a bus for the day, making the rounds to three different homes in the area to play for the residents.
Central Kings Grade 9 student Jonathan Mccready says he gained so much from the experience. It was fun to play for the seniors, he said, and the students could tell it meant a lot because they either sang along or were smiling.
“It’s important to help out in your community, especially the elderly, because they are isolated in these homes and don’t get to see family very often and we can bring a smile to their faces,” says Mccready.
Coldbrook Grade 8 students are also making monthly visits to Evergreen Home for Special Care in Kentville. For the past three years, June Brown has been taking her homeroom students to visit and play games like cards and Bingo with the residents.
Brown, who used to work in a nursing home before she became a teacher, knew how much residents enjoy visits, especially from children. As a teacher, she Through their monthly visits to Evergreen Home for Special Care, Coldbrook School Grade 8 students get a chance to share their talents with the residents and to be kids again by playing games. Students and residents alike look forward to these visits. Here, students Baily Cox and Sarah Pye-cameron play cards with resident Chris Mercer, on the far left, and volunteer Amanda Mason.
started taking her students to Grandview Manor in Berwick. When she decided she wanted to take her class every month, she contacted Evergreen who was very open to the idea.
Brown feels these visits are important because it gives the students a chance to learn from the seniors and hear their personal stories. They also see residents with different illnesses and learn that it is not only senior citizens who live in a place like Evergreen, she says.
“It also gives students a chance to share their stories, talents and it gives them a chance to just be a kid and play
games. The students really look forward to their monthly visit,” says Brown.
Benefit to residents
According to Paul Wood, director of recreation and volunteers for Evergreen, it’s not only the student who look forward to these visits, but also the residents.
“Residents take great delight in having the students visit and they look forward to their participation in concerts, socials and special events,” says Wood.
Wood says these visits help residents feel young again,
bringing back fond memories of their youth, helping to meet social, spiritual and physical needs, and providing sensory stimulation. Residents have learned so much from the students regarding technology and computers and this has established wonderful relationships, says Wood.
Students learn from these experiences as well. Wood says students have learned from the residents who have shared special memories and life experiences or about historical events. They enhance their communication and listening skills, develop positive relationships, and some
students have chosen a career in working in the long-term care or health-care field because of their involvement in volunteering at the Evergreen Home for Special Care, says Wood.
As Hutten says, it’s all about giving back to the community, and many of the band students say it’s the best thing they do in the program all year.
Coldbrook school principal Jean Corporon is very supportive of the project.
“I am so proud of this activity and giving back to our community members. We need to share the great things our students and staff are doing,” she said.