Charlotte Jewish Day School Wraps Up 12-Week Better Together Program

April 2024

By Lauren Stark

The Charlotte Jewish Day School (CJDS) middle school students hosted their senior buddies from The Barclay at SouthPark to culminate their 12-week Better Together intergenerational program. The celebration included a tour of their school, a video scrapbook presentation, and a party. Since 2014, the Better Together program has been a nationally recognized leadership program for teens, designed to encourage meaningful interaction between young and old. Through the program, teens build relationships with elders from their community. The Better Together program has a classroom and senior engagement component. The curriculum developed by the non-profit organization offers flexibility for each participating entity to develop their own lessons. The Barbara Sklut Better Together program is made possible through a generous grant from the Legacy Heritage Foundation and is run under the auspices of Friendship Circle of Charlotte.

Last year, Better Together partnered with the CJDS to visit residents at Brookdale Carriage Club. Among a variety of Jewish holiday engagement activities and general games, the students learned about the Holocaust from Hanna Adler, who survived Kristallnacht and shared many artifacts from her childhood in Nazi Germany.

This year the curriculum focused on leadership skills, appreciating others, and practicing kindness. The students prepared questions for their visits to the senior communities each week. A highlight of this year’s program was led by teacher Breindel Piekarski Fake who created a “kindness challenge” rooted in Jewish ethics. Through hands-on activities and games, students learned that each person’s work is valued, and a kind word goes a long way to make someone feel accepted and loved.

Weekly visits alternated with residents of Waltonwood Cotswold and The Barclay at SouthPark. During the hour-long visits, students engaged with a senior buddy and with the entire senior group through conversations, Jewish holiday-themed games, a nosh (food), and art activities. The students bonded with their buddies during these activities and learned about their experiences and childhood memories.

“For many residents, sharing memories from their Jewish childhood was the highlight of their week. Residents commented on how polite, patient, and kind the students were,” said Lauren Stark, Better Together program coordinator.

Middle schooler Adley reflected, “Going to the retirement communities was fun because of all the activities we did and all the people I met. Listening to their stories was fascinating because I learned about what life was like when they were kids. Better Together is great for everyone, and it helped me become a better person.”

Meleah Grace shared, “Better Together has shown me that it’s important to consider different perspectives because everyone has their own way of looking at things. Participating in Better Together is something that I decided I wanted to do. I don’t regret it, and I found it fun to get to know the residents of The Barclay even better.”

During the celebratory party, Tom Doty, one of the senior Better Together participants, summed up his heartfelt experience, “These kids gave us all a tremendous amount of hope for the future because, you know, you just watch TV news and you see what’s going on. Well, you know what’s going on! You’re learning, you’re smart, you’re growing, and you’re learning how to be good people. There’s nothing the world needs more than that, so, keep it up. Thank you for involving us.”

Vesenia Velasquez, life enrichment director at The Barclay at SouthPark shared, “I really love this program and the benefits it provides the students and our residents.”

View the video scrapbook at https://tinyurl.com/2ufpajut or scan the below url code.