Friendly visit
The smooth, tiny hands of Grant Mallery and Jasper Coulter joined with the wrinkle-carved hands of 83-year-old Jeanne Edward to create a work of art – turkey art. The boys traced Edward’s hand, and together the three of them crafted a brightly colored painting of a Thanksgiving turkey that hangs on the wall of the activity room at Fairview Assisted Living home.
Seven-year-old Jasper took over the coloring details and Grant supervised the painting. “The less water you put on your brush, the darker the paint will be,” said Grant, 6.
Last week, the first and second-grade APPLE (Alternate Parent Participation Learning Experience) students from Garfield Elementary packed up their crayons, paper and paints and walked a few blocks to visit their neighbors at the care facility.
This is the third year that teacher Lisa Beeman’s class has made regular visits to Fairview. The 23 students stopped by last month, in costume, for a Halloween parade. The kids read to residents and entertained them with songs, and in turn the students were treated to lollipops and popcorn balls.
“We learn why it’s important to go, why it’s important to be caring and give of our time. They do really well with the residents. They seem to have a natural instinct about how to act,” said Beeman.
Beeman and student teacher Kim Gravely had the full attention of the students before they left for the visit.
“Try to have the resident do as much as they can. Look at their face to see if they’re OK with what you’re doing. This is called nonverbal communication. By looking at their face, you can tell how they’re feeling. Tell them your name and ask them their name,” Beeman instructed the students.
She reminded them to use their quiet voices and not move around too much.
When the kids arrived at Fairview, they were well-prepared for their project. “All right now, we’re ready for painting,” said 6-year-old Rebecca Landron after tracing and coloring Virginia Hogland’s handprint.
“She’s 6 years old and teaching me how to do art,” said Hogland, who is a new resident at Fairview.
The students were confident and caring. Some of the residents were hearing-impaired. Not a problem. Sarah Sims, 7, communicated with a deaf woman by writing her notes and Mackenzie Saueressig, 8, spoke to her friend Bud Walinski through a voice amplifier. The girls weren’t going to let this slow them down, they had turkeys to color.
How do the residents feel about their visitors? “They love it. They love having little kids come and visit,” said nursing assistant Christie Waddell.
They won’t have long to wait for the next visit. The students are planning to visit around Christmas to sing carols and catch up with their new friends.