It was Windsor Place and Iola school officials who took a field trip Tuesday, to Topeka to hobnob with politicians and give the Kansas State Board of Education a look at the work being done with the Age to Age Program.
Gov. Sam Brownback also got first-hand information from SAFE BASE director Angela Eyster, with SAFE BASE Leslie Hillbrant, McKinley Elementary Principal Lori Maxwell, Windsor Place director Linda Harrison, human resources representative Mariam Highberger, pre-school teacher Heather Wools, assistant pre-school teacher Stacie Smail and USD 257 Superintendent Brian Pekarek.
As the group walked into the governor’s office, Eyster noticed a familiar painting. Iolan Gary Hawk’s painting of Higley Cabin, which inspired the state song “Home on the Range.” Hawk is Smail’s grandfather and Eyster’s uncle.
Next on the agenda was comments from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the Brown v. Board of Education historic site.
Duncan expressed a strong position on the importance of early education.
“Investing in early childhood education might be the best investment we could make,” he said.
The speech couldn’t have come at a better time because the delegation ended the day presenting research and progress the Age to Age program has had in Iola.
Age to Age began with Craig Neuenswander, former US 257 superintendent, who said, “I didn’t open any doors, just answered the phone.”
He was approached by Harrison who asked the district to allow young students to take trips to Windsor Place for interaction with the elderly.
“It is one of those programs you can’t turn down,” Neuenswander said.
Pekarek, the current USD 257 superintendent, said he “just continued on with a great program.”
“As superintendent I get too much credit when things go well,” Pekarek said. “That’s why I wanted to bring members of my staff who have worked hard on this program, and who deserve credit.”
THE PROGRAM brings children enrolled in pre-school and kindergarten to Windsor Place to interact with its elderly residence.
Studies have found creating an interactive relationship between the two age groups helps not only children develop motor skills but the elderly as well. The program is in its third year and is the third successful model in Kansas and Oklahoma.
“We interact with the residents, both in the nursing home and in the classroom, and as the year goes on we increase the interaction,” Wools said. “Being in the nursing home opens up opportunities in academics and socially.”
