Episode Three - iGen Graduation

08/11/23 • 64 min

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 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.

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

Previous Episode

Episode Two - How is iGen Structured?

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.

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

Next Episode

Episode Four - Slow and Gentle Approach

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