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Better Together
OUR COMMUNITY
Better Together
Adat Shalom youth pair up with older adults for intergenerational learning.
SUSIE STEINBERG SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
What do you get when you bring a class of students who have never known life without “Better Together is truly what it is,” said Roberta Wolf of Farmington Hills. “I’m grateful to have learned so much from this computers together with a group of older congregants who remember when color television was brand new?
Two years into a four-year grant from the Better Together program, the Adat Shalom-Beth Achim Learning Community, under the direction of educator Dr. Melissa Ser, is discovering the power of intergenerational learning.
The Better Together program goals are intended to be simple and meaningful: to sensitize students to the challenges of the elderly and incorporate Jewish learning and values in their interactions with the elderly.
Through the program’s focused lessons, students learn Jewish traditions and ethics they can actualize in their daily lives. Students develop a relationship with a senior and are sensitized to what an older person might need. Students are instilled with a sense of obligation and responsibility to care for their elders.
Most importantly, students learn that they have as much to gain from the seniors as they have to give, all while gaining confidence and acquiring communication skills. exuberant group of teens.” At first, it was challenging to bring everyone together on Zoom. The technology was new for the seniors, and the students were just getting the hang of Zoom themselves. Rena Tepman of West Bloomfield noted that “every time we got together, we learned something from the students about how the technology could work better and, at the same time, we shared the information that we knew. We worked together to complete activities, and I think the program was very successful.” Alexis Migliore, 11, of West Bloomfield said, “One of my favorite activities was the virtual escape room where we and the community members had to find clues about Judaism and answer the questions! It was so much fun! “But the part that truly changed the way I view life was the interviews,” she added. “We asked the seniors questions about their lives and the feeling you get from that is truly indescribable.”
SWEET STORIES
Yonatan Ser, 11, of West Bloomfield notes that the similarities between the students’ lives and those of the seniors are palpable. “But you don’t see them,” he notes. “You don’t read them. You hear them. You feel them. Ask an older person a simple question, like, ‘What is your favorite dessert?’ and you get an entire story about why it’s their favorite dessert and some memories of it, and you are there.”
Creating these opportunities for connection, for bringing students and older adults into each other’s lives and memories, is a crucial part of the program.
Mallory Columbus, 11, of Commerce was the winner of the school’s Better 2 Write Essay Contest. She wrote: “The Better Together program is good for both the students and the elders as we shared stories, memories and laughter together. During COVID-19, many seniors have been sad and unable to see their grandchildren. The program was a great way for the elders to meet us online and spend time with young people who they miss so much. I can’t wait to share my memories with my grandchildren one day.”
The student winner in each school receives a generous camp or gap-year scholarship in addition to a gold medallion awarded at the school’s end-of-year ceremony. Participating students receive a silver medallion.
The program continues to grow as it moves into its third year. In 2021-2022, both sixth- and seventh-graders will participate in the monthly program, joining together once per month in person, on Zoom, or in a combination of the two for learning about each other and Judaism. The students and seniors will have more opportunities to figure out what they share in common and what they can learn from one another.
Adat Shalom members who remember when telephone numbers began with a street name are invited to apply to participate in the program for 2021-2022.
