Students, seniors share experiences, meals
As Welland Centennial Secondary School students sat with residents of Royal Rose Place they socialized, sharing stories, knowledge and life experiences while also sharing a meal.
They’ve been doing so for the past three weeks at the long-term care home, each side getting to know the other a bit better, helping bridge the generation gap through a program called Let’s Cook Together.
Let’s Cook Together is modelled on a pilot program initiated two years ago by a family health team in north Niagara. The Rose City’s program was started by the Welland McMaster Family Health Team.
Working with Royal Rose
Place, at 635 Prince Charles Dr. N., and the McMaster Family Health Team’s registered dietitian, junior and senior students from the high school’s culinary program planned healthy meals for the seniors and themselves.
Wednesday, the last day of the program, for now, was a bit of a cheat day for all involved as they made personal pizzas.
As they chatted away, residents of the home worked on ingredients for their pizzas and were assisted by students if needed.
“This program links seniors and students … it helps enrich
the students’ learning environment as they help each other cook,” said culinary teacher Jennifer LeBlanc-Fraone, adding planning for the program started a year ago.
More importantly, said LeBlanc-Fraone, it gives both seniors and students a sense of purpose as they work together. It’s also helpful for those students who may not have grandparents and those that don’t know what to expect when being around seniors, she added.
“It went very well. The seniors looked forward to the students coming every week and the students looked forward to coming here,” she said.
LeBlanc-Fraone said she looks forward to running the program with a new batch of students next semester.
Carina Ervine, Royal Rose Place’s life enrichment co-ordinator, said it was the McMaster Family Health Team that approached the long-term care home about working with the high school students. She agreed that residents in the home looked forward to the students coming each week to cook and talk.
“It put a smile on their faces.”