Cultivating Health Improvements Through Connections Between Seniors in High School and Seniors in Retirement Homes

"This initiative involves high school Seniors interviewing Seniors at retirement homes. What legacy do the elders hope to leave behind? What stories do they fondly remember? What foods became their favorites? What connections in these stories are there to our ancestors and early inhabitants of the Cape? How does medicine today compare to the medicines of old that perhaps grew in the fields and marshes along the Cape? We plan to have the elder Seniors teach the young Seniors a thing or two, while the youngsters teach the elders how to navigate today's technology to learn answers on their own, and to rekindle the lessons from long ago that may have been forgotten. Together, we plan to have this partnership planting various shrubs, flowers and perhaps trees, which may have purposes beyond ornamental. Our project involves students from Cape Cod Technical School, elders from Thirwood Place and other retirement homes on the Cape, the Town of Dennis Advisory Committee on Disabilities, and the Department of Parks and Public Works. Horticulture students will create a list of native plants that are suitable for growing at John A. Kelley Park in Dennis, around the Dennis Braille Trail. The elder Seniors will regale the younger Seniors with tales of their favorites from the list. The interactions will all be recorded, and shared with the public via a web site, social media, and local media on the Cape."