Herman Ave kindergarten class takes virtual field trip to The Commons on St. Anthony
May 19, 2023In honor of May being Older Americans Month, Mrs. Gremli’s kindergarten class at Herman Ave Elementary took a virtual field trip to The Commons on St. Anthony.
Since COVID, the Commons has been unable to have students or youth groups in their building, and some of their residents have really missed it. With modern-day technology, they realized it is still possible to have that intergenerational engagement.
The field trip started out with residents from the Commons reading stories aloud to the kindergarteners. One of the stories was a book titled, What a Treasure! by Jane Hillenbrand, which is about a mole digging for buried treasure who keeps finding treasures for everyone else, but ultimately he finds a treasure for himself, a friend.
During the virtual trip, the students asked the residents questions about their likes such as favorite colors, foods, and toys when they were little. Despite their age differences, they all found that they like many of the same things.
One student asked what kindergarten was like when the residents were in school. One resident said they did not have kindergarten when she went to school. Her school only had three classrooms with multiple graders per class.
Another student asked what it was like when they did not have cell phones, and all of the adults chuckled just a little. One resident responded by saying there was a black thing that sat on her mother’s kitchen counter, and that was the phone. The students were astonished!
As the questions wrapped up, the kindergarteners began reading two stories to the residents. Each student took a turn reading a sentence or two, and they all did a great job.
The visit rounded out with the Commons’ residents asking the students to show them their favorite dance moves, so students got up and started dancing. The residents showed off some of their own favorite dance moves, and there were smiles all around.
