Shelby Henry will not just part ways with friends and teachers when she graduates from Bathurst High School this June. She will also say goodbye to seniors she has gotten to know throughout high school.
Since Grade 10, Henry has delivered gifts to more than 400 seniors throughout Bathurst, a city of 12,000 on New Brunswick’s northeastern shores.
The gifts are part of the Spirit of Giving, a volunteer program to serve seniors in the community. Sometimes, Henry and other volunteers bring seniors bags of fresh produce. Most recently, they delivered “Sunshine Bags” — bags full of summer essentials, such as bug spray and sunscreen, and goods baked by Bathurst High School students.
For Henry, the best part is talking to the seniors when she makes deliveries. k
“They’re always so eager to hear from younger people who are probably around the same age as their kids or their grandkids. It’s kind of special to be able to sit down and just chat with these people,” said Henry, 18.
Across Canada, students like Henry are getting involved in intergenerational programs designed to bring seniors and students together. Sometimes, the programs are intergenerational classrooms where students and seniors learn together. Other times, the learning happens through events and activities outside of the classroom.
Educators and advocates say these initiatives are crucial for reducing isolation and stereotypes about aging and youth.
‘Classrooms humanize’
Many Canadians struggle with loneliness. Annual surveys from the National Institute on Ageing show nearly half of Canadian seniors consistently report feeling isolated. Young people often report these feelings as well.
Schools can provide places for both young and old to relieve some of that loneliness.
“Classrooms humanize people of all ages,” said Elizabeth Russell, a psychology professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont. In 2024, she ran an intergenerational classroom, where her 60 psychology students were joined by 13 seniors from the community. Seniors did not complete assignments, but did participate in class discussions.
Each week, the class was split into small groups of five or six students and one senior. The groups did activities together, including a scavenger hunt around campus or interviewing each other about their lives.
After the course, Russell surveyed the participants to understand how it had impacted their perspectives on youth or seniors. Students were more likely to report positive feelings about aging and older people. Similarly, the seniors said they were more positive about younger adults.
“They really weren’t seen as ‘others’ anymore, but as people who are similar to themselves,” said Russell.
Sharon Mackenzie, executive director of the advocacy organization Intergenerational Society of Canada, says teachers should find ways to include seniors in activities their classes are already doing.
Her dream is that every student has the chance to create a meaningful relationship with a senior.
“If we just had that, we would really improve health right across Canada, both mental and physical health,” she said.
‘Need stimulation’
While Bathurst High School does not have an intergenerational classroom, intergenerational connections have become normal for students at the school — and others in the school district.
Audrey Ronalds, community engagement director for New Brunswick’s Anglophone North School District, has championed intergenerational relationships for the two decades she has been in the role. Ronalds is responsible for making connections between the 36 schools in the district and organizations in their communities.
“[Seniors] need the stimulation,” said Ronalds, who was raised in Bathurst, one of the largest centres in the district. “But our students need the stimulation as well.”
Elementary and high school students across Bathurst contribute to the Spirit of Giving program that delivers gifts to seniors, many of whom are socially isolated or in financial need. Henry says she remembers participating in it as far back as Kindergarten.
Ronalds trains all the students who deliver gifts about interacting with seniors respectfully. The personal connections are the most important part, she says.
“That’s medicine you don’t get in a bottle,” she said. “They’re so isolated, we might be the only visit they get at Christmas.”
But the program is not the only way Ronalds helps students interact with seniors. Bathurst High School students built a gazebo for a long-term care facility. Other students have cooked and shared dinners with seniors.
One year, a class went to a long-term care home each week to make dog biscuits with the seniors. The dog biscuits were sold to raise money so the home could buy crab apple trees.
Provincial and federal government programs help cover some of the costs of these programs. Ronalds also receives donations from local service groups and businesses.
Henry says meeting seniors, especially those who are struggling financially, has made her more empathetic and changed how she views aging.
“I think it’s a privilege,” she said.
‘Dig deeper’
Other schools build empathy by moving their classes to long-term care facilities.
In Saskatoon, Sask., 25 students spend much of their Grade 6 year at Sherbrooke Community Centre, a long-term care home.
The students spend every morning and early afternoon at the centre, where they complete their own curriculum and also participate in activities, like art, with the residents. Each week, the students and residents also learn about Canada’s Indigenous history together.
Keri Albert, a teacher who helped start the program in 2014 and still runs it today, says the program helps students learn to interact with people who are older or have disabilities.
Participants find a lot of joy in it. Some residents regularly buy the students treats like Popsicles, and each school year ends with a musical. But there is also sadness. Sometimes, the Sherbrooke residents die during the school year.
The program helps students learn resilience, says Albert.
“They’re learning how to dig deeper within themselves and to be brave and to be courageous in their approach to friendship and being friendly.”
Her dream is for there to be more opportunities for students and long-term care residents to come together. But not every opportunity needs to look like her class, she says.
“These are two populations that are just such a perfect fit for each other,” she said.
Reduced stereotypes
Back at Trent University, Elizabeth Russell says intergenerational classrooms are not the only way to build relationships between seniors and students.
Trent University is one of Canada’s designated age-friendly universities, meaning it is committed to promoting healthy aging and doing more with older adults.
“We do feel that it’s not specifically the university setting that’s effective,” said Russell, whose research has shown small group interactions between the ages reduced negative stereotypes about aging. “It’s just the connecting. It’s the connecting of these two groups in an intentionally interactive way.”
Those connections are often long-lasting. Russell says some students and seniors are still in touch a year after being in class together. In Bathurst, Ronalds says former students regularly help with the Spirit of Giving program.
Shelby Henry hopes she finds some way to continue interacting with seniors when she heads off to Fredericton to study leadership and French at the University of New Brunswick this fall.
“I find it something [that is] so valuable to my understanding of different generations and all they have to teach younger ones,” she wrote in an email.
Some of her fellow students plan to take their experiences to other countries. Carlos Duque spent the year in Bathurst as an exchange student from Spain. Like Henry, he helped make deliveries as part of the Spirit of Giving program.
In an email to Canadian Affairs, he said he wants to find ways to connect with seniors while he attends university in Spain.
“I have found something precious here in Canada, and I hope I can continue it fully in Spain.”
My own experience attending university with much younger students has been extremely positive. One example: for the exam in Italian language class, when it came time to pick a partner for the conversation test, several students came and asked me if I would be their partner! I was very flattered indeed! I was 75 years old at the time.