The Kinkaid Middle School and Second Family "Life Story" Service Learning Project began in September, 2007, when Brenda Meyer and ten eighth grade students from Kinkaid Middle School went to Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church to meet with Gretchen Odum, coordinator of the Second Family Ministries, and many of the members to initiate the project. (Second Family is a service organization of the church that provides various support services for elderly or needy members.) This will be the 3rd year that we do the project.
Students are assigned to one older adult (or to a couple) to encourage them to tell their stories. Digital recorders are used to record their voices telling stories and giving answers to interview questions that the students bring each week. For about an hour the groups will visit and then share lunch together.
The adults bring photos of their childhood, homes, children, and other memorabilia for the students to take to school to scan to use in the projects. Kinkaid students visit Mondays in September, October, November and December—taking off only for a school holiday, and a day for finishing the technology part of the project.
On a Monday before Thanksgiving, the students visit and feast together. In December the students bring their laptops to show off the beginnings of their finished products. And after polishing for two more weeks the "Life Story" DVDs are burned, labels printed, and they are packaged to go. On the second Monday in December, the students will travel to the church and met their Second Family friends to show the movies to all and give the packaged DVDs to their friends. Everyone enjoys seeing the movies and exchanging their gifts.
Almost two months after their last get together in February, the Kinkaid students take another field trip to the church to visit with their friends. After having discussed dreams and setting goals at school, the students make lists of their goals. The older adults gave advice and examples of goals and dreams they have had in their lifetimes. They share lunch and Valentines.
The culmination of the project is in March at an assembly for the whole Middle School and guests. The older adults are introduced and the students explain the project with a show that includes parts of each individual’s project. Parents, friends, and administrators are invited and encouraged to attend.
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