Episode One - iGen Lead Teacher, Keri Albert

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