Renate Scheelar (front, second from right) walks with youth during a recent Walk the Talk event at the Golden Circle. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

showing one another they are valued

‘Walk the Talk’ event connects Red Deer seniors and fifth-graders

Jun 12, 2024 | 12:05 PM

Fifth-graders from St. Elizabeth Seton School in Red Deer recently paid a visit to regular patrons of the Golden Circle Senior Resource Centre for a fun event called ‘Walk the Talk.’

The field trip was an initiative of SPARC, or Strengthening Positive Assets and Resiliency in Communities.

“The purpose of this event was to have an intergenerational opportunity for connection,” explains Rania Page, SPARC co-chair.

“Seniors were partnered with a student in Grade 5 and enjoyed a conversation and short walk with them. After the walk, they enjoyed ice cream and played some giant lawn games. Each participant received a thank you gift of seeds of kindness to plant.”

The outing also helps meet some of the objectives set out in the 40 Developmental Assets document, including helping youth feel valued by their community, which is usually rated low by youth.

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It also helps youth feel they have a role to play, Page notes.

But the visit also made a difference in the lives of participating seniors.

(Supplied)

Just ask Renate Scheelar who says it may seem like seniors wouldn’t have a ton in common with 10- and 11-year-olds, “but nothing could be further from the truth.”

“It was so heartwarming to enjoy the enthusiasm of these children in a place where the chatter, laughter and enthusiasm of youth is missing,” says Scheelar, 78, and a long-time user of the Golden Circle.

“I am hoping these young people went home feeling that they had made some new friends, that we seniors enjoy having fun just as much as they do, that they felt free to express their thoughts and opinions without judgement (as we elderly people are very capable of being), and that, even though there is a huge age difference, we have many things in common.”

Scheelar thought it a bit surprising that the time with the students felt so natural.

“One thing that will stick with me for a long time is the connection I made with the boy in my group. I thought once the walk was over, he’d rejoin his friends,” she shares. “While he did rejoin them, he invited me to do so also. I needed to go into the building for a few minutes thinking my absence wouldn’t be missed; however, when I returned, the first thing this young lad asked me was where I had been and that he had been looking for me. How much more heartwarming does that get?”

Scheelar hopes the intergenerational connection forged through ‘Walk the Talk’ broadens the horizons of those young and old.

“I really learned a lot from these young people,” she says. “I hope they came away with a different and non-stereotypical view of seniors.”

Learn more about SPARC at sparcreddeer.ca.

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