Webster Thomas students use art to connect with seniors

I love this story so much.

Recently, several students from Webster Thomas High School connected with the residents at St. Ann's Home in a very special way -- through art.

Twice this school year, a group of about 15 students have visited St. Ann's Home, a skilled nursing facility on Portland Avenue in Rochester, to paint and draw with the residents. The group is coordinated by Thomas art teacher Todd Stahl, who says that the activities they do are pretty open-ended, because "it seems to be a good way to get every resident involved." It also makes it easier to adapt to the residents' abilities and needs.

Stahl said, "It was eye-opening for me because I just assumed that we would come up with a more tightly-constructed project, but what I have found is that the activity ends up being just as much about working on reinvigorating memories and exercising their fine motor skills."

The impetus for the project came from Kelsey Kilgore, Webster Schroeder '04, whom Stahl met several years ago. Kilgore was recently hired at St. Ann's Community as a recreational therapist, and proposed the idea.

It's proved to be a pretty terrific project for everyone involved, Stahl said.

The best part are the conversations that the students and I have with the residents. The art-making experience always brings about conversations about their lives and families, as well as shows the high school students how much we all are interconnected, the importance of family and that life is bigger than just the little bubble that they live in every day. Each time, we leave invigorated; the kids leave the nursing home bounding with positive energy, skipping and singing as we walk back to the cars, and we always follow up with conversations about life. It's pretty awesome.

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