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We recently wrapped up our fall session with the celebration and presentation of the life story books and banners. I have had the privilege of being involved in this project for six semesters now, and it gets me every time. Students stand up alongside their storyteller, sharing what the experience was like for them. Storytellers stand up alongside their students, sharing how close they have become to their students. These groups? They were complete strangers just a couple of

Ageism — a term coined over 50 years ago by gerontologist Robert Butler — describes the stereotypes and discrimination directed at people simply because of our age. Connecting Generations is working to change that. Recently, my colleague Nicki Rogers and I were invited to present at the Kansas Governor's Conference on Aging, themed, Rooted in Respect, Growing an Age-Friendly Kansas . Our presentation focused on combatting ageism through intergenerational programming. We had t

We enter this project very storyteller-oriented. Our main goal is to capture and produce a life story. It’s only natural then that students enter the first couple of sessions thinking the storytellers are the ones benefiting most from this experience. But what I enjoy is the moment students start realizing they too are gaining something from this project. Maybe the student doesn’t walk away with a tangible project at the end, like the life story book or banner, but they don’t

A common theme I’ve noticed after running this intergenerational project for six semesters is the sense of trepidation that comes with...

Storyteller sharing of his college experience with the students in the room. Today we launched the first session of Sharing Life Stories...