Fourteen seniors and teens gathered on April 17 at the Carriage House located at Boston Post Road to share stories and make connections. Chloe Chitkara, a Wayland High School junior who attends the Rivers School, created a three-part inter-generational series through Rivers School Community Engagement Fellowship program.
Chitkara said that every year Rivers’ juniors have the opportunity to plan, develop and compete for a fellowship stipend of $500 to launch their program. The projects can explore either local or global issues. Chitkara’s project on community engagement was one of the six chosen. Her program was divided into three inter-generational events: game night, sharing stories and a chamber music concert; and was co-sponsored with the Wayland Council on Aging and the Carriage House.
Chitkara said she was inspired by Rivers School’s Sages and Seekers program. That program pairs high school sophomores (Seekers) with locals (Sages) to engage in one-one-conversation over a seven-week period. She said that the program builds relationships.
She recruited six fellow Rivers’ students to participate in her Sharing Stories program. The seniors, who included her grandmother, Hazel, ranged in age from mid-sixties to 105 years old and are either members of the COA or residents at the Carriage House. Chitkara split attendees into three separate groups mixing the teens and seniors. Each teen came with a “have you ever” list of questions to initiate the conversation. However, the discussion morphed into topics about school, companies, work and geography forging connections based on shared experiences.
Carriage House resident Claude Williamson, who proudly wore his button that said “Alive at 105” was the star. He talked about piano lessons costing 25 cents during the depression in rural Ohio and his parents not being able to afford them. He said that he paid for college by joining the ROTC] so was already in the army when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and was a communications officer in World II. Prior to his Carriage house residency, he lived on Plain Road. In discussing his longevity, Claude jokingly said, “I was intelligent enough to choose the right ancestors.”
Director of Community Engagement, Lucas Malo, said Rivers’ goal with their community engagement program “is to help students use their talents, imagination, intellect and compassion to affect positive social change. In addition to the personal enjoyment and growth that come from hands-on engagement opportunities, students develop their understanding of the complexities and root causes that underlie many societal issues as they interact with people who have had varied life experiences.”
