I.C. West students, retirees not so different, they learn

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman
The Gazette

Eileen Ahlberg (left) looks at a poster about her life with Andrew Fortmann. Fortmann, a senior at Iowa City West High School, made the poster as their final project in Gary Neuzil's sociology class. For three months, West students have met with Melrose Meadows residents to discover similarities across generations. Students shared their findings through presentations./ Photo by Meredith Hines-Dochterman, The Gazette

IOWA CITY — Dylan Carew and Jim Corwin have much in common.

They love sports, especially University of Iowa wrestling, and learned at an early age that you have to work for what you want in life. Both athletes, that’s what they did.

“There’s not really that much different between us,” Corwin said.

Some might think that Corwin being a resident at Melrose Meadows, a retirement community, and Carew, 17, a senior at Iowa City West High School, is a big difference.
They would be wrong.

For the past three months, Melrose Meadows residents and students in Gary Neuzil’s sociology class have met each week to exchange ideas and opinions on issues such as values, immigration, economics and family dynamics.

The project, Neuzil said, wasn’t designed as us versus them, but to give people of different generations the opportunity to find the common theme in a variety of topics.

“The outcome was a sense of wonderment,” Neuzil said. “You really saw a wonderful blending of ideas and connections.”

Brook Easton, Melrose Meadows’ marketing coordinator, helped organize the project.

“I was looking for something that was more of an oral history sort of thing,” she said.

Instead, the students and residents developed an intergenerational project, sharing aspects of their lives with one another. Teams spoke of first loves and life lessons, school dances and teenage pranks.

West High seniors Ben Joe Potter and Ani Vardanyan, both 18, learned about cherry bombs from their partner, Eldon Hans. They shared teepee stories with him.

“I know the residents, but the students uncovered things I didn’t know,” Easton said. “This was better than I imagined.”

West High senior Aaron Kepler said he wasn’t sure what to expect when he learned of the assignment.

“It was kind of awkward the first time, a little uncomfortable,” said Kepler, 18.

The residents stood on one side of the room, the students on the other. By the time the project culminated, students and residents readily sat together.

“I loved listening to the stories,” Kepler said. “What they did when they were our age, what we do now — it really hasn’t changed. We have a lot in common, although maybe we play our music a little too loud and drive a little too fast.”

Students and residents met one last time Tuesday night. One by one, students stood before the audience in Melrose Meadows’ wellness center to share what they learned from one another. Some students presented timelines; others, question-and-answer projects. A few had video and computer reports, showcasing the technology often mentioned as a big difference between generations.

“School was a lot harder back then because they didn’t have the technology we have,” said Andrew Fortmann, 18, a senior.

Eileen Ahlberg, a Melrose Meadows resident, told Fortmann she probably would have been a better student if she had the technology — a statement that was met with laughs.

“This was a neat project,” Ahlberg said. “It was surprising how often our thoughts were about the same.”

Easton and Neuzil said the project would continue next year.

“I think it was a great way to bring about history for these young people, giving them some perspective of where their ancestors came from and the world they grew up in,” resident Hans said.