It’s a well-established truth at Friendship Village that our residents never cease wanting to learn.  Taking that a step further, we’ve observed that many of our residents never stop wanting to teach or share their experiences and knowledge. Earlier this fall, Friendship Village announced the inception of its In House Schoolhouse Program.  The series of weekly sessions covering a wide variety of topics is conducted by residents of Friendship Village with specialized expertise in their respective topic.  “It’s such a great thing, using the residents of Friendship Village as resources. We have so many residents with incredible knowledge, backgrounds and life experiences,” said Jeannette Magdaleno, lifelong learning coordinator for Friendship Village.

In-House School House was initiated by Henry Acres.  The resident of Friendship Village is a retired professor of English at Hofstra University in New York. Henry was also the founder of the Institute of Learning in Retirement at Cedar Crest College; an initiative which eventually drew 500 subscribers and from which the In House Schoolhouse was modeled.  His philosophy, which is consistent with that of Friendship Village, is that lifelong learning keeps minds, bodies and spirits young.  “It brings us pleasure to learn new things,” said Henry, who added that it’s also a pleasure for the residents who do the teaching.

Henry established a committee of residents to help develop the program.  Jeannette said that it wasn’t difficult to find presenters.  “Our residents have fascinating lives,” she said.

Examples include:

• Joe and Dot Gondek, who along with another couple, briefly owned Tortilla Flats, a tiny community in Arizona along the Historic Apache Trail. Their presentation was entitled A Life Story: Modern Pioneers.
• Winnie Christensen, who as a child of missionaries in China, was taken prisoner at the age of 12 or 13 and was separated from her parents for more than 5 years.  “She was eventually traded for Chinese prisoners held in the U.S.,” said Magdaleno.  “It’s a really incredible story.” Christensen’s presentation entitled A Life Story: Prison Camp in China was received with a standing ovation.
• Marilyn Kouba, who has a master’s degree in chemistry, presented Climate Change-Causes of Change.
• Robert Callanan, who has taught astronomy at Central Arizona College presented Astronomy for Debutantes and Benedicts.
• Judy Marren presented Social Networking and Its Effect on You and the World.
• Ruby Hirakawa recalled her early years in a Japanese internment camp in her presentation entitled A Life Story: I Remember.

Jeannette said that being amongst the residents of Friendship Village is like “being in a goldmine.  It’s been amazing finding these resources to share with everybody.”

Over the past several years, Friendship Village has carefully cultivated a butterfly garden. Focusing on specially selected plants known to attract butterflies, our garden is thriving and fragrant and beautiful. Unfortunately, it hasn’t attracted butterflies.

In order to solve this dilemma, the Lifestyles Team, Land Stewardship and Foundation of Friendship Village joined forces to purchase our own butterfly kits. These kits permitted us to watch more than 30 butterflies transform from larvae to chrysalis, to painted lady butterflies. We adopted this project as a fundraiser. Residents were encouraged to make a $5 donation for which they were permitted to name one of the butterflies. Due to the generosity of our donors, we were able to raise not only enough money to pay for the butterflies, but also to help sponsor a small fountain to add to the butterfly garden.

On June 11 we celebrated the release of the butterflies into our butterfly garden. We hope not only that they will stay with us there, but will also breed and we will have additional generations of butterflies.

All guests were treated to a root beer float at the end of the event.

In addition to being adventurous, scuba diving has many benefits to individuals of all ages. It is the only sport in the world without gravity. Consequently, divers are able to experience an expanded range of motion, improved circulation, and the ability to enjoy being weightless and active under water.

Senior program fitness leader Jillian Patti said that the program as always, was well-received. One participant who had previously been reluctant to get her hair wet, enjoyed herself so much that she has the makings of becoming an avid diver.

Aileen Jong is just 16 years old and a rising junior at William Fremd High School in Palatine. While a student at the Chicago Northwest Suburban Chinese School, Jong was in a dance troupe that performed at Friendship Village for a Chinese New Year celebration event. She acknowledged, “That was the first time I saw the excitement many of the residents had when we performed. They were very kind, energetic, welcoming, and truly had an interest in Chinese culture.”

Chinese is one of the most intricate languages in the world, with an enormous alphabet and the most characters of any language. Spoken Chinese relies heavily on tone of voice. But for Jong, who has grown up speaking Mandarin Chinese at home, the challenge is learning to be an effective teacher. She said, “My goal is to be an encouraging, optimistic, and good teacher who promotes learning.” Evidently she’s succeeding at it.

The students, 24 in all, most of whom are residents of Friendship Village, have enthusiastically embraced Jong as a teacher. “The ladies and gentlemen have been very encouraging, and seeing their willingness to work so hard on such a difficult language makes me ecstatic to come back week after week to share more of my own time and knowledge. All of them have shown so much improvement with their pronunciation and it excites me that they are grasping the basics so quickly,” Jong commented.

True to her desire to combine lessons balancing language and culture, Jong gave students the homework assignment of learning to pronounce their phone number in Chinese. Their reward for completing the assignment was a lucky red envelope, a traditional gift used to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

Jong, who created the Chinese class curriculum specifically for senior “students,” did so as a project for her Critical Thinking class, which required independent research culminating in a self-designed project and presentation. Jong said she wanted to teach senior citizens partially in order to dispel a somewhat commonly held belief among her peers that “once you reach a certain age, learning is no longer possible.” She expressed her personal belief that learning is something that never stops and that individuals can always learn.

Donna Brown, Activity Manager at Friendship Village, knows that to be true. “Our residents are not only interesting, but they’re interested. They want to constantly learn new things, keep their brains engaged, and their minds sharp.” According to recent research published in The Journal of Neuroscience, a person’s brain is continually reshaping itself in response to what it learns, throughout its lifetime.

Aileen Jong is a busy young lady: She is a clarinet player in the high school band, a record-holding member of the JV swim team, a member of the National Honor Society, a teaching assistant at her former Chinese school, and she placed in the top three percent in the nationwide American Mathematics Contest. But it’s Jong’s thoughts about her experience with her “senior students” at Friendship Village that afford the true measure of her character: “I truly value my time at Friendship Village interacting with the senior residents. I’ve found it a great experience, being able to share my culture which I’m truly passionate about to people who are also excited and willing to learn. I love seeing the students’ progress, as well as the laughs and smiles during class time. It’s made me realize that my project isn’t just about seniors learning the basics of Chinese, but how important learning and sharing with others truly is. Seeing them so excited to explore a new culture at their age motivates me to do my best in learning and to always value education.”

Early in 2010, Donna Brown planned and coordinated a movie-making project — a 25 minute movie completely written, produced and performed by the residents of Friendship Village. From the very beginning for a call to writers to the finished product, the entire process took six months to complete.

The process of making a movie began with the initial call: for writers, production team, casting team, auditions, through the rehearsals and the filming. The writers produced a well written screenplay by a retired high school principal. The finished screenplay turned out to be a delightful comedy called “Let’s Dance.” Additional resident writers helped to develop the characters. Once the screenplay was written, a casting committee and production team held auditions for residents. Rehearsals were held twice a week for six weeks. The production team consisting of makeup, wardrobe, props, set decoration, craft services, 1st and 2nd assistant directors were at the heart of the film production. The filming, which took three days to complete, was a true learning experience for all involved.

Once filming was completed, a ‘Red Carpet’ movie premiere and party was planned. The actors arrived by limousine (the same limousine drove around 6 times and dropped two resident actors off at a time) and were surrounded by paparazzi (family members) taking pictures. Actors wore sunglasses, dressed in formal attire and were given the ‘Red Carpet’ treatment — as they entered, ‘Joan Rivers’ interviewed the celebrities.
Two separate showings were needed due to the overwhelming turn out. Prior to the movie, guests enjoyed entertainment and a premier party was held after the show which included a three-piece band for dancing.

Forty residents participated in the making of the film. All agreed the experience was one they would never forget. They thoroughly enjoyed the celebrity status and learning about the film industry. Experiencing the behind the scenes of film-making was something to remember!

Visit our online photo album to see pictures from Let’s Dance

“It’s fun for grandparents to surprise the younger generation with their hip knowledge,” according to McCann. “We make it easy in our presentation to understand the popularity of people and groups by relating it to the ’stars’ of their era, such as Justin Bieber is similar to the style and popularity of David Cassidy. Lady Gaga can be compared to Madonna.”

The show highlights the hot movies of 2010 including Avatar, Twlight and Harry Potter series with video clips and a humorous account of why these movies are important to know. Attendees will be able to dazzle the grandkids with knowledge of the Black Eyed Peas, who will be performing at the Super Bowl half-time show. Of course, Facebook and Twitter had to be included in this presentation to ‘keep it real.’

The presentation includes the hot new gifts and games for the holidays. To learn more about the live presentation at The Barn, call the Lifestyles Department at Friendship Village: 847-884-5000.

Hottest Toy List of 2010

Sattler advocates that aging well is a matter of a simple and systematic attitude adjustment. That means cultivating an active mind and maintaining a positive attitude. He challenges seniors to improve their emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, physical and vocational dexterity.

To create good attitudes, positive perceptions and influence better health, Sattler recommends his “Four L’s Formula:”

1. Live life to its maximum

2. Love and develop great relationships

3. Learn and keep your mind challenged

4. Leave a legacy — by doing so you’ll fulfill the reason you’re here

Focusing on the holistic approach to health — the combination of body, mind and spirit, is what makes senior living communities so fulfilling, according to Sattler. He commends these communities for the myriad of opportunities they offer to create attitude changes. He cites the availability and quality of support systems — both professional and personal — as vital components for facing the future with confidence and enthusiasm.

Friendship Village resident volunteers routinely “go to class” to help students with their class work.  However, a bold initiative to build a greenhouse and garden on the school grounds required a large group of seniors to help with the project.  Friendship Village residents joined Hoover school staff and students to build the greenhouse and garden, plant the organically grown vegetables and continue to tend the crops that are donated to the Schaumburg Food Pantry.

Friendship Village will continue its partnership with Hoover School along with its other community service programs, including:  Children’s Home & Aid, Feed My Starving Children, Willow Creek Food Pantry, WINGS and Aldrin Elementary School.

For more information about volunteer opportunities at Friendship Village or with Friendship Village residents, contact, Jeannette Magdaleno at 847-884-5539.

During the event, Friendship Village resident Tom Carroll was given the opportunity to address the audience.

“Good Morning, My name is Tom Carroll and I have been a resident of Schaumburg for over forty years and a resident of Friendship Village for the past three years. At Friendship Village we are fortunate to have many organizations, and individuals volunteer to come onto our campus to give to our community. We at Friendship Village are delighted to take the opportunity to give back to the Schaumburg community for all of the wonderful things it has done for us. We have done this by partnering with Hoover Elementary School in the Hoover Friendship Garden-Growing Green Dreams. I was impressed at our first meeting with the Hoover Staff and students. They met the project with great interest and enthusiasm. This partnership gives us the opportunity to give back to the community. Not just here at Hoover, but to the larger community by donating the food that has been grown to the Schaumburg Food Pantry. I feel that I have a special connection to this project as my children and grandchildren have all attended Hoover. In fact I have a granddaughter currently enrolled in the fourth grade here and an eighteen month old grandchild waiting to attend. This has truly been a multigenerational experience for me and I can foresee it benefiting future generations to come.

Thank you.”

– Tom Carroll

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