Connecting generations at St. Peter’s Hospital

A special partnership between St. Peter’s Hospital Foundation and Adelaide Hoodless Public School is bridging the gap between generations.

The Connecting Generations program is in it’s third year and pairs grade 7 and 8 students from Adelaide Hoodless with patients at St. Peter’s Hospital. The students each meet with a patient and interview them about their unique personal history.

From there, students write essays based on what they learned about their intergenerational partner. Teachers at Adelaide Hoodless select the top 10 essays and present those finalists to a panel of judges, including celebrity guest, Sunni Genesco.

“The event is an inspiring and heartwarming experience for everyone involved,” says Heather Scott, Director, Development, St. Peter’s Hospital Foundation. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for patients to share knowledge and offer guidance to students who represent the next generation.”

This year’s first place winner is Lewis Marsman. He received a $500 RESP from Healthcare and Municipal Employees’ Credit Union (HMECU) for his essay about 75-year old Brooke Ryan.

Here is what Lewis wrote about Mr. Ryan:

Hello, I am Lewis, and this is the essay I wrote about a nice man named Brooke Ryan.

Brooke is a 75-year-old man under the great care of St. Peter’s hospital. Brooke was admitted to St. Peter’s in June of last year, and was born on November 9, 1941 in the Hamilton General Hospital. Brooke Ryan had the childhood of an average boy raised on a farm, having to do chores like milking goats and feeding chickens. The poor boy had to do all these chores before school, after school and on weekends and holidays!

Unfortunately, Brooke didn’t really enjoy school all that much, and as a result, his grades weren’t that great either. Well, his advice for me was “stay in school and study hard”, so I’m guessing he was telling me not to make the same mistakes he had made within his life.