"Enriching Azalea Estates"

was a writing partnership between the third-grade enrichment students

from Kedron Elementary School in Peachtree City and residents of Azalea

Estates, an assisted living and retirement community in Fayetteville.

The enrichment teacher, April

DeGennaro, felt that it would be good for her students to sharpen their

literary skills by having each of them establish a relationship with an

older adult.

"One of the unexpected

benefits," said DeGennaro, "was the three-way relationships

that began to form between the parents, who chaperoned the field trips,

the children and the residents of Azalea Estates.

"The parents enjoyed their

chats with our Azalea buddies and made arrangements to be able to go each

month. The parents enthusiasm to visit and the obvious joy they got from

the chats, modeled for our students how to interact with the residents.

"Modeling was the very

best 'teacher' for the students. Many of our families have asked if they

can visit on their own this summer!"

Elaine Poitevint, activities

director for Azalea Estates, said the children would visit once a month

for about 45 minutes, beginning last October. About 20 to 30 residents

would attend, listening to the students' stories and giving feedback in

order to help the children expand on their stories.

"Although most of the

visits were about their writing," she said, "at Christmas we

decorated cookies and had a party at Valentine's Day."

Representing the Mentoring

and Tutoring Program for the Fayette County Schools, Donna Worcester got

the funding for the program.

"This was a wonderful

opportunity for the children to share their talents with the senior citizens,"

she said. "I feel that all of us that participated in this enrichment

program, seniors, children and staff, benefited from the experience. Not

only did we make new friends spanning generations, but we were blessed

with seeing the children blossom as they worked on writing their books."

This past week seniors and

students got together for the last time this school year and shared their

finished product.

A number of awards were given

best non-fiction story, Samantha Matsey; wildest imagination, Sam Sheikali;

best science fiction, Corey Couch; best adventure story, Lexi Hayob; most

humorous, David D'Allesandro; best fantasy, Sarah Lee; and best illustration,

Tiffany Liao.

The seniors also were recognized

perfect attendance, Frances Foster and Lucile Stapleton; most enthusiastic,

Jenna Derrick; most dedicated, Chandler Hewell; best writing support,

Marie Risher; and most photographed, Florence Smith.

The consensus by all participants

was to repeat the program again next year.

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