Intergenerational Program Database

From its inception in 2008, the Intergenerational Prom has been a favorite event for Bernards High School Students. The prom is the brainchild of Bernardsville resident Greg DiGioacchino, a member of the Somerset Hills School District Board of Education. Senior citizens from the school district’s four sending towns – Bernardsville, Bedminster, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone – are invited every year. “The purpose of the evening is to treat (the) senior citizens to dinner and dancing,” she said. “It’s just mingling, interaction between the generations. Many generations just coming together to have a night of fun.”

NJIO is an “Orchestra for All” which welcomes musicians of all ages and skill levels into a nurturing artistic environment. Through multiple ensembles, we encourage our diverse group of players to move along the musical continuum. Our members, from earliest beginners to most accomplished instrumentalists will grow musically from their NJIO interactions with musical professionals and each other, while advancing together towards the common goal of achieving artistic excellence within their capabilities.

The GrandPals program is a learning and reading program pairing older adults with students in the Princeton Regional Schools. Senior volunteers read to kindergartners at Littlebrook and Riverside Schools to encourage a love of reading and to develop intergenerational friendships.

RSVP of Monmouth County has two intergenerational programs. Volunteers read to the same small groups of students each week throughout the school year using a read-aloud format that augments the school’s regular reading curriculum. Healthy Buddies partners senior volunteers with students, grades 3-5, to help them develop the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors needed to maintain and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

The Intergenerational School Breakfast Program (ISBP) traditionally pairs adult volunteers with young children, pre-kindergarten through the third grade, during the school breakfast program. Volunteers serve as role models, reading storybooks to the children and teaching them about the importance of good nutrition and eating breakfast. Some of the sites have a senior volunteers only stipulation

Parents Anonymous of New Jersey, Father Time, and Bridgeton Municipal Alliance's youth to youth members spent Martin Luther King weekend serving soup to seniors at the Oakview Heights apartments and RiverWalk Senior Apartments. The groups also donated materials for pillows and blankets and distributed them out to the seniors. A news article about our 2012 event: http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2012/01/bridgeton_youth_serve_soup_to.html

For 24 years the Livingston Board of Education, Livingston Township Council and Livingston High School Key Club has hosted an intergenerational prom for high school students and seniors.

The students, through the visits by seniors and the outreach to them in the community, understand the seniors as a group and understand the physical strength and weaknesses of the seniors, thereby getting a better understanding of the process of aging both from a generic point of view and as a way to understand their own aging future. The course, and its Center, provides the students with the opportunity to apply their theoretical knowledge and gain practical experience working with an age group that many will work with during their professional careers, i.e.  as physical and occupational therapists, geriatric doctors, directors of programming in community senior centers, assisted living facilities, etc.

CareOne at Ewing has partnered with two local schools to participate in our intergenerational program, which partners our residents with students in a variety of fun activities, including karaoke sing-alongs, word games and holiday crafts.

The Friendship Center is an intergenerational child care facility that  incorporates senior citizens from Heath Village, the adjacent retirement community, into its child care programs. Senior volunteers assist the center's professional staff by teaching Bible stories and foreign languages, conducting nature walks, providing musical accompaniment, reading stories, and supervising craft and woodworking projects. Heath Village residents join with the children for special events and holiday celebrations, and pair off with them to be pen pals. Most important, the Heath Village residents who share in the Friendship Center's activities bring their maturity and love of children to help create a warm, caring Christian environment, giving children the feel of a large extended family. Keyword: Shared Site