Welcome to iGen

Hello and Welcome to iGen. This is a podcast that shines a light on a unique and inspirational education program that takes place at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. My name is Eric Anderson and I am the Communications Leader for Sherbrooke Community Centre. We are a long-term care home in Saskatoon that is home to 263 residents of all ages and abilities, and since 2014, has been the home of the iGen program.

iGen, which is short for intergenerational classroom, is a wonderful partnership between the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke that sees 25 grade six students from across Saskatoon working with and learning from the Elders who call Sherbrooke home. The students spend their school days at Sherbrooke, within our care home, which makes for an incredible learning environment for everyone involved.

This is episode five of the podcast and we take listeners to Pike Lake Provincial Park which is 30 minutes southwest of Saskatoon. Lead Teacher, Keri Albert, and secondary teacher, Lorna Conquergood, take the iGen class to Pike Lake Provincial Park every June to celebrate and reflect on the school year and to do some wonderful activities with Sherbrooke residents. Keri and Lorna were on day three of the camping trip when they appeared on the podcast and braved some pretty windy conditions to share the importance of this annual trip!

We are really happy with how this episode turned out and can't wait for you to listen!

If you have any questions for myself or Keri, or if you have any comments, suggestions, or even ideas for future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to email us.

My email is [email protected]

Keri’s is [email protected]

I want to thank Keri and Lorna for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with me on the podcast. I also want to thank the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke Community Centre for their support of the podcast and of course the iGen program.

We can’t wait to bring you more stories of iGen, and if there are specific things you want to learn and hear about relating to the program, please let us know.

Thank you again for listening and we’ll talk with you soon.

Producer, Host and Editor: Eric Anderson

Consulting Producers: Keri Albert and Lorna Conquergood

Recorded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Treaty Six Territory

Hello and Welcome to Igen. This is a podcast that shines a light on a unique and inspirational education program that takes place at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sherbrooke is a long-term care home in Saskatoon that is home to 263 residents of all ages and abilities, and since 2014, has been the home of the iGen program.

iGen, which is short for intergenerational classroom, is a wonderful partnership between the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke that sees 25 grade six students from across Saskatoon working with and learning from the Elders who call Sherbrooke home. The students spend their school days at Sherbrooke, within the care home, which makes for an incredible learning environment for everyone involved.

This is episode two of the podcast and we wanted to focus on how the class is structured and how it evolves during the school year. Taking you through that evolution will be Keri Albert.

Keri is the lead teacher of the iGen program and has been since the first day students walked through the doors of Sherbrooke in 2014. She is a highly respected teacher in the Saskatoon who has made a difference of students and Elders in her time as the iGen teacher.

She is also passionate about helping other teachers explore possible intergenerational relationships and this conversation really comes from a lot questions she received from teachers who were curious about the nuts and bolts of iGen.

In our conversation that you are about to hear, Keri shares how students really grow throughout their year in iGen and why treating each student as a unique person is so important. She also explains why communication with the Sherbrooke staff is so vital to making sure the school year runs smoothly.

If you have any questions for myself or Keri, or if you have any comments, suggestions, or even ideas for future episodes of the podcast please feel free to email us.

My email is [email protected]

Keri’s is [email protected]

We hope you found this episode helpful and full of information that will give you the confidence to try and start an intergeneration program in your community.

Cheers...Eric Anderson - Communications Leader, Sherbrooke Community Centre

Producer, Host and Editor: Eric Anderson

Consulting Producers: Keri Albert and Lorna Conquergood

Recorded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Treaty Six Territory

Hello and Welcome to iGen. This is a podcast that shines a light on a unique and inspirational education program that takes place at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Sherbrooke long-term care home in Saskatoon that is home to 263 residents of all ages and abilities, and since 2014, has been the home of the iGen program.

iGen, which is short for intergenerational classroom, is a wonderful partnership between the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke that sees 25 grade six students from across Saskatoon working with and learning from the residents who call Sherbrooke home. The students spend their school days at Sherbrooke, within our care home, which makes for an incredible learning environment for everyone involved.

It really is a unique program in Canada and dare I say the world, and it is our hope that through this podcast, teachers and long-term care home leaders will be inspired to pursue their own intergenerational programs in their communities.

You might be asking why we chose now to do this podcast. Well, in December of 2022, Sherbrooke and iGen were featured in a CBC Radio program called White Coat, Black Art. The program aired across Canada and internationally and sparked so much interest in iGen that it flooded Keri Albert’s inbox with emails from teachers asking how they could start their own iGen program.

Keri is the lead teacher of the iGen program and has been since the first day students walked through the doors of Sherbrooke in 2014. She is a highly respected teacher in the Saskatoon who has made a difference of students and residents in her time as the iGen teacher.

She is also passionate about helping other teachers explore possible intergenerational relationships and so it just made much sense to have the first episode of this podcast feature Keri.

In this episode, Keri explains what steps teachers can take if they are interested in starting an intergenerational program but don’t know where to begin. She also shares why grade six is an ideal age to try intergenerational learning, explores some of the challenges teachers might face and offers solutions that will help make intergenerational learning successful.

What I really love about this conversation is how many tools Keri shares from her teaching toolbox that I know will benefit teachers no matter where they are in their career. I’ve known Keri for six years and I always learn something new from her whenever we talk, and I know you will take away so many good ideas from our conversation.

If you have any questions for myself or Keri, or if you have any comments, suggestions, or even ideas for future episodes of the podcast (because we will be doing more episodes) please feel free to email us.

My email is [email protected]

Keri’s is [email protected]

We hope you find this episode helpful and full of information that will give you the confidence to try and start an intergeneration program in your community. We can’t wait to bring you more stories of iGen, and if there are specific things you want to learn and hear about relating to the program, please let us know.

Thank you again for listening and we’ll talk with you soon.
Eric Anderson - Communications Leader for Sherbrooke Community Centre and Host of 'Welcome to iGen.'

Additional Media Stories on iGen:

CBC Television - 2017
CBC Radio - 2019
Saskatoon Star Phoenix - 2020

Producer, Host and Editor: Eric Anderson

Consulting Producers: Keri Albert and Lorna Conquergood

Recorded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Treaty Six Territory

Hello and Welcome to iGen. This is a podcast that shines a light on a unique and inspirational educational program that takes place at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Sherbrooke is a long term care home in Saskatoon that is home to 263 residents of all ages and abilities, and since 2014, has been the home of the iGen program.

iGen, which is short for intergenerational classroom, is a wonderful partnership between the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke that sees 25 grade six students from across Saskatoon working with and learning from the Elders who call Sherbrooke home. The students spend their school days at Sherbrooke, within the care home, which makes for an incredible learning environment for everyone involved.

This is episode three of the podcast and it features two very hard working and slightly exhausted teachers. Keri Albert is the lead teacher for the iGen program and Lorna Conquergood is the secondary teacher. Together, they did an incredible job of guiding the 2022/23 iGen class through the school year and shared some of their insights on this year's class in this episode.

We recorded this episode at the end of June in the iGen classroom at Ecole College Park, which is located near Sherbrooke Community Centre. Keri and Lorna were understandably exhausted after a busy school year, but as you'll hear in this episode, they are so proud of this year's class and the impact it had on Elders and themselves.

Keri and Lorna also take listeners through the iGen graduation ceremony which is a highlight of the school year. It is a day full of meaning, happiness and some wonderful moments of spontaneity and Keri and Lorna do a great job of conveying the excitement of the day in this episode.
If you have any questions for myself or Keri, or if you have any comments, suggestions or ideas for future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to email us.
My email is [email protected]

Keri's is [email protected]

We hope you find this episode inspiring and perhaps it will give you the confidence to start an intergenerational program in your community!
Thank you for listening...

Eric Anderson - Communications Leader, Sherbrooke Community Centre

Producer, Host and Editor: Eric Anderson

Consulting Producers: Keri Albert and Lorna Conquergood

Recorded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Treaty Six Territory

Hello and Welcome to iGen. This is a podcast that shines a light on a unique and inspirational education program that takes place at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. My name is Eric Anderson and I am the Communications Leader for Sherbrooke Community Centre. We are a long-term care home in Saskatoon that is home to 263 residents of all ages and abilities, and since 2014, has been the home of the iGen program.

iGen, which is short for intergenerational classroom, is a wonderful partnership between the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke that sees 25 grade six students from across Saskatoon working with and learning from the Elders who call Sherbrooke home. The students spend their school days at Sherbrooke, within our care home, which makes for an incredible learning environment for everyone involved.

This is episode four of the podcast and it’s actually our first episode of the 2023/24 school year. So we thought it would be interesting to catch up on how the school year is going so far and how unique this year’s iGen class. When I say we I mean iGen Lead Teacher Keri Albert and secondary teacher, Lorna Conquergood.

I sat down with Keri and Lorna in the iGen classroom at Ecole College Park school, which is just across the park behind Sherbrooke and we talked about why slow and gentle was a starting theme for this year’s iGen class.

In our conversation, we also discuss the strategies Keri and Lorna used to empower students to help form relationships with Elders, and why making a safe space for Elders, students and families was such an important priority this year.

If you have any questions for myself or Keri, or if you have any comments, suggestions, or even ideas for future episodes of the podcast, please feel free to email us.

My email is [email protected]

Keri’s is [email protected]

I want to thank Keri and Lorna for taking time out of their busy schedules to speak with me on the podcast. I also want to thank the Saskatoon Public School Division and Sherbrooke Community Centre for their support of the podcast and of course the iGen program.

We can’t wait to bring you more stories of iGen, and if there are specific things you want to learn and hear about relating to the program, please let us know.

Thank you again for listening and we’ll talk with you soon.
Links:

The Wheel of Awareness
The Science of Raising Courageous Kids

Producer, Host and Editor: Eric Anderson

Consulting Producers: Keri Albert and Lorna Conquergood

Recorded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Treaty Six Territory