The Oconto Falls Senior Center and a benefactor in the community formed a partnership that seeks to recognize the value of building strong, multi-generational relationships. For several years, the Oconto Falls Senior Center presented two scholarships to Oconto Falls High School students pursuing college degrees. The scholarships were awarded to students who were actively involved in community service and volunteer time spent with the elderly.
The Future Business Leaders of America chapter of Oconto Falls High School served as a conduit to bring together teens and seniors in the community. FBLA members would visit the Oconto Falls Senior Center several times a year to interact with local residents attending the Commission on Aging meal site and participants of the Caring Tree Adult Day Center.
Together they would play Bingo and other games, do craft projects, and talk with one another. Although the students left behind the formal setting of the school building, they continued to learn important life lessons — about history, communication, responsible citizenship, and volunteering.
Students and seniors learned from one another, shared stories, laughed, and enjoyed the time to interact and get to know each other. They discovered they had much more in common than they thought!
The experience at the Oconto Falls Senior Center served a dual purpose for the FBLA chapter each year. Members summarized their experience, developed a community service report, and entered their report in an FBLA competition. Their reports described the chapter’s project, members’ involvement, degree of impact on the community, publicity, and evaluation.
The multi-generational gatherings have become a highlight for both the young and the not-so-young, and the scholarships are one way to recognize this important collaboration between people of varied ages and backgrounds.