There were at least three generations represented at an event June 9 at the Grace Church in downtown Jersey City. Children ages 3 to 5 from the Garden Cooperative School visited senior citizens who are members of the Grace Church Senior Center.
This is the second year that the students of the school, which is located near City Hall, have come to the senior center to entertain with music and stories, as well as take part in the seniors’ exercise class.
The Garden Cooperative School is a preschool with an head teacher/director, an assistant teacher, and a different parent each day to help run it.
“The visit with the seniors is part of the preschool’s curriculum of encouraging children to be respectful and kind to each other and all people,” said Sam Pesin, the head teacher at the preschool and longtime community activist.
‘Like going to Grandma Sophie’s’
The children came about a half hour before the scheduled 10:30 a.m. event, preparing for the senior citizens who would start filing into the church for their daily exercise class. The preschoolers created a mural with crayons and brought in a larger mural that had been created at their school for the occasion.
Jayne Freeman, a co-president of the Garden Cooperative School as well as an assistant teacher, whose 3.5-year-old daughter Bebe also attends the school, said that the kids were excited about the event even though they had very little idea about their field trip.
“At their age, the idea of the trip is still abstract, but I think for them it was a day off from the usual routine,” said Freeman. Freeman, a longtime piano teacher, would later lead the children in a rendition of “Sing” by the Carpenters, using sign language.
After the kids displayed their paintings, Pesin led the children in their version of the ABC song. Then there would be songs about the Statue of Liberty, a rendition of the old gospel favorite “This Little Light of Mine,” “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and other melodies. Many of the children looked surprisingly like seasoned pros, while others were just being their age, running around with friends, laughing and playing, forgetting why they were there.
The children then shook hands with the seniors, feeling the intergenerational connection that was the theme of the event. Then it was the seniors’ turn to be active, as they did their exercise class with the children following along in unison with stretches and leg kicks.
Frances Wilson, who is a member of the Grace Church Seniors group that meets at the church several times a week for exercise class, said that connecting with the youngsters is a reminder of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“My grandchildren live out of state with their parents, so I get to see them when they’re off from school, but not often enough,” said Wilson. “It was nice what these kids did today. I’m going to keep my gift that the children gave me.”
Wilson was holding a painted paper diamond.
For 4-year-old Nate, the visit with the seniors had a familiar feel to him.
“When you see them, and get to know them a lot,” he said. “It’s like going to Grandma Sophie’s in Portland.”