U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran toured Iola’s Age to Age preschool at the Windsor Place nursing home Wednesday.
The USD 257 preschool program that promotes interaction between the young and the elderly is a model for other school districts struggling to get kids ready for kindergarten, he said before a crowd of 40 just outside the nursing home.
“Intuition tells me that putting young people and seniors together is beneficial to both,” Moran said.
Since September 2010, about 60 at-risk 4-year-olds have spent a few hours each day interacting with residents of the nursing home, providing the kids and seniors a different experience than what their peers in other communities and senior centers are used to.
The concept of pairing the two generations was inspired by a similar program in Coffeyville. According to Wichita State University and Kansas State University researchers, students in Coffeyville’s kindergarten Age to Age program advance in school at a faster rate than peers who either attended a traditional pre-kindergarten program.
Paid for with a State Department of Education grant totaling about $43,400, private contributions from the community and Windsor Place offering the facility, operating costs are low. And they’ve stayed low thanks to area civic groups.
Just outside the facility, Windsor Place has a designated area for the four-year-olds to play and exercise. Funds to purchase the playground set the kids have enjoyed this spring were provided by the Iola Rotary Club. On top of the Rotary’s $4,700 contribution, which was to be presented to USD 257 today at the club’s weekly meeting, Iola’s Community Involvement Task Force also raised about $800 for the play set project.
After viewing the program, inside and out, Moran commended all involved in the Age to Age program.
“We often look to Washington, D.C. to solve all our problems,” he said. “But the reality is what you all do in your own community is really what makes the difference.”
Impressed, Moran said he’d be bragging about Iola’s cutting edge program in his weekly newsletter emailed to supporters and constituents.
“It goes to about 60,000 Kansans … and often times it will highlight what’s happened here and hopefully give you the pat on the back that’s well deserved,” he said. “More importantly, it gives the opportunity for somebody else to say ‘that might work in our community.’”
