On Thursday Oct. 23, the Clague Student Council visited Atria Assisted Living to paint pumpkins and spend time with the residents. Atria Assisted Living is a facility on the north side of Ann Arbor on Plymouth Road.
“Last year, Atria and Clague had a partnership,” student council advisor and ELA teacher Cheyenne Taylor said. “Our student council members were penpals with some of the residents, and then they invited us for an end of the year luncheon. It was really sweet. The 8th graders were so emotional! This year, we painted pumpkins with the residents and we’ll start our pen pal program in January.”
Because of the proximity to Halloween, the Clague student council decorated pumpkins with the residents. Some student council members had a bigger responsibility during the trip,
“Our students were able to be a breath of fresh air for the residents,” Taylor said. “For safety reasons, most of those residents are on the (memory care floor) all day. The student’s energy really helped liven up the space. For these residents, even having someone to talk to can make a difference.”
The student council members also gained quite a lot from this trip, gaining a new perspective from the residents that live in assisted living.
“The students thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent at Atria helping the residents,” Taylor said. “They laughed and joked around with the residents and learned about their lives. Some residents were artists in the past. Some residents had grandchildren that attended Clague. This year, there was an additional element of working with residents on the memory care floor. This was a huge responsibility and took a certain level of maturity. I am so proud of our Cougars.”
The residents thoroughly enjoyed this visit as well, getting to become closer with the younger community and a new group of people to spend time with.
“Yes, I was able to talk to both the residents and staff,” Taylor said. “The residents were really excited to be doing an interactive activity and to be around the young people. The assisted living facility is their home. These residents don’t always have family that live close or even visit often. Residents were truly elated to see the smiling faces and high energy of our Cougars.”
