Students, seniors find friendships on grand scale

John Eusey and Gabriela Sibbersen dance down the line during the ninth annual Valentine's Day party at the Eleanor Kahle Senior Center. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT Enlarge | Photo Reprints

Joyce Barteck has four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren -- but there's always room for one more.

That's why Mrs. Barteck was just one of many members of the Eleanor Kahle Senior Center who jumped at the chance to offer their hearts to yet another child -- this one from Toledo Public Schools' Whittier Elementary.

For the past nine years, fourth graders at the elementary school have been paired up with senior citizens as part of the "grandfriend" program.

The pairings give students a chance to interact with older adults and give senior citizens an opportunity to enjoy youthful company.

"We've had some wonderful children and they're always so tickled when they get their gifts," said Mrs. Barteck, 74. "It's just a fun day, no matter what we're doing. It's been a wonderful experience."

The grandfriend program was created when Cathy McVicker, the senior center executive director, and fourth-grade teacher Catherine Hernandez each reached out, both with the hope of bringing their two groups together. Ms. Hernandez hoped to expose her students to the warmth and wisdom of the older generation, and Ms. McVicker sought out the enthusiasm and liveliness of children.

And it's been creating friendships ever since. "We call it grandfriends because it doesn't matter how young or old you are, you can be a great friend," Ms. Hernandez said. "I think that a good strong friendship occurs."

Ms. Hernandez said that she sought out a partnership with the seniors initially to give her students more inspiration for their work. Noting that students tend to put more effort into work that will be shared with others, she said a grandfriend can become a student's motivation.

In addition to doing projects together and keeping in touch via pen-pal letters, the seniors have attended class field trips, including the annual fourth-grade trip to the Toledo Symphony.

Ms. Hernandez recalled that one grandfriend attended a trip with the students to a farm where the 80-year-old woman milked a cow for the first time.

"They're so wonderful and caring," she said, adding that each shares his or her "heart and generosity" with the students.

On Tuesday the fourth graders held a party for their grandfriends. Students sang, danced, and played recorders, and the grandfriends exchanged gifts with their students. Mrs. Barteck kept close to her friends -- she picked two children this year -- as they solved Valentine's Day puzzles, and atop her head constantly shook two small Koosh balllike antennas connected to a headband.

As the balls on her headband wobble, Joyce Barteck, 74, applauds the children's musical number. Mrs. Barteck is one of the grandfriends in the program with Whittier Elementary School children. THE BLADE/AMY E. VOIGT Enlarge | Photo Reprints

"It's cute," Gabriela Sibbersen said of the headband.

"It's silly," teased best friend Jordan Schultz.

Ilse Parker has been in the grandfriends program for nine years. She teamed up with Mersades Carr this year, after other neighborhood girls whom Ms. Parker previously befriended insisted they pair up. Not a grandmother herself, Ms. Parker pointed to Mersades and proudly said, "This is my kid."

"It keeps us old people young," she said of the program.

Ms. McVicker said her motivation in reaching out to the elementary school was to help motivate the seniors to interact with young people. And what starts with letters blossoms into an amazing friendship, she said.

"The kids are just so open and honest the first time they meet their grandfriend face to face," she said. "For many of them, this is their opportunity to have an adult who is there just for them and whose total attention is given just to them."

Ms. McVicker recalled that one student who was a part of the program when he was 10 years old returned as a freshman in high school -- when his sister was a part of the new generation of grandfriends -- and offered to volunteer at the senior center.

"It's giving the kids a whole different idea of what a senior citizen is," she said.

Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.