n
COURTYARD
MANOR
less
riendship
Seniors and kids share fun in the sun.
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
StaffWriter
hile some partygoers
swam and others ate
lunch at a June 13 cele-
bration, senior Eileen
Silverman spent part of her time sit-
ting at an outdoor table with six S-
and 10-year-old friends, exchanging
addresses — e-mail addresses.
The pool party and picnic at the
West Bloomfield Jewish Community
Center's outdoor patio area was the
culmination of the year-long
Intergenerational Program, estab-
lished as a connection with 50
Maple Elementary School fourth-
graders and residents of the
Lillian and Samuel Hechtman
Jewish Apartments. Boa' facilities
are in West Bloomfield.
The program was created by
Janice Buck, Maple's counselor,
with Leah Stein, student social
worker of the Jewish Apartments
and Services coordinating the
senior participants. The two
arranged for the groups to spend
time together every other week
during the year, sometimes at the
school and other times at
Hechtman.
Many of the visits to the school
by the Hechtman residents were
spent working on a project with
the kids. Together they built a
Counter clockwise from top:
mini-model community out of a
Hechtman resident Dorothy Aaron; Miranda Ka 9; Evelyn Bevos of Hechtman
variety of materials. "We created a
Apartments; and Ashley Delly 10, all of West Bloomfield; enjoy a day at the JCC pool
city, named it and put in a fire sta-
tion, a police station, a grocery
Hechtman Apartments resident Ellen Moss cools her feet in the water.
store and a movie theater," says
Hechtman resident DorOthy
Evelyn Bevos and Dorothy Aaron of Hechtman Apartments enjoy the day in their summer hats
Aaron. "The kids added a mall.
and glasses.
They also added a school."
In addition to the scheduled
Sean enjoys a relationship with sev-
"why we like kids," which they per-
visits to Hechtman, some of the kids
eral of the seniors. Already keeping
formed recently for their entire school to
have gone to see their senior friends
in touch by e-mail she says, "He
the tune of the Mickey Mouse Club song.
on their own time.
asked to visit in the summer."
"These kids are just super,"
With much of their family living
The students learned a song
Silverman says. "The bright spot in
out of town, parent Susan Flanagan
Silverman composed for them about
my year is being with the kids." 0-
of West Bloomfield says her son
.
Included...
Assistance with bathing,
dressing, personal
hygiene, medication
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