May 9—Norman Public Schools celebrated the fifth anniversary of its partnership with Grace International, which culminated in the creation of the Intergenerational Pre-Kindergarten Program at Grace Living Center.

The program, which first welcomed students in 2019, brings pre-K students to a senior living home where those living in the facility complement traditional pre-K instruction.

Ann Rosales, director of elementary teaching and learning at NPS, said the partnership came about because the previous owner of Grace International had approached the district after having implemented a similar program in Jenks.

“We were able to talk through and create expectations, and we looked at research about how others had done it, and we implemented a similar program with a Norman touch,” Rosales said.

She said that pre-K students receive the same curriculum, and even the same classroom furnishings as those attending any of the other district pre-K programs.

For an hour a day, students get to interact with seniors, or “grandfriends,” who help them with different projects.

“What’s unique about this program is the social emotional learning that happens with their interactions with their grandfriends,” Rosales said. “Every day, they are either doing book buddies or doing a dramatic play where they play with the elderly, and that not only benefits the students by helping them with fine motor skills, gross motor skills, or language skills, but it also benefits the residents by giving them purpose.”

Lori Branson, school liaison for Grace Living Center, said having children on the grounds brings life to the home.

“It brings smiles to their faces every day. It gives them purpose. They bring life and light. It does wonders. This should be in every home,” Branson said. “We have several retired school teachers, and they just thrive. They come and read to the kids.”

Renee Surowicz, pre-K teacher, has taught at Grace for three years, and said the partnership benefits the students as they learn important lessons, like acceptance of others.

“They learn to accept their grandfriends, and the grandfriends love to talk to the 4-year-olds,” Surowicz said.

Every day, Branson plans an activity involving both the students and grandfriends, which typically lasts one hour. The rest of the day is devoted to learning from the district.

“Sometimes in the afternoons we can be spontaneous, like I’ll do a science experiment and some of [the grandfriends] will want to come watch,” Surowicz said. “We can do spontaneous things, but we know for sure we do things with our grandfriends at 10:30 every morning.”

Kirsten McNally, a parent of a former pre-K student, was invited back to the school to celebrate the anniversary with her daughter Diana, who now attends Roosevelt Elementary. She said she was initially hesitant to sign Diana up for the program at first, but found it was the best choice she could have made for her.

“I am glad that we came here because our year in particular, what the teachers told me, got super close,” McNally said. “They are able to do a lot more with being flexible, and there are just the two classes. They all know each other.”

She said Diana came home and asked her to play a game she had learned with one of her grandfriends.

“She said, ‘I want you to be a grandfriend,'” McNally said. “I was like OK. I was talking like I normally do, and she said, ‘No Mom. Use a grandfriend voice.’ She wanted me to pretend to be older and to age my voice. It was funny. I think she appreciated being around people of different ages.”

Neither McNally, nor her husband, are from Oklahoma, so having Diana take part in a pre-K program grandfriends filled a hole in Diana’s life, as she has had little interaction with her own grandparents.

“They are in different states 14 hours away, so I like the fact that she is spending time with people who are older and have life experience,” McNally said.

Cliff Foraker, a resident at Grace Living Center, said he enjoys spending time with the children.

“It’s really nice. It is a nice place for the students. They come rolling around, and we get to meet them and play with them. It is nice when they join us,” Foraker said.

Lily Harrison, a great grandmother, has a 6-year-old great grandchild Sutton who now attends Roosevelt who she brought back to Grace Living Center for the anniversary party.

“She graduated last year, and she loved it. She loved this school,” Harrison said. “Every time we drive by, she’ll point out, ‘there’s my old school!'”

“The school gives them a chance to understand age and helps them to be more gentle and kind to older people.”

Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.