DATE=8-18-03

TYPE=English Feature

NUMBER=7-37763

TITLE=Intergenerational Learning at Olympic Park Institute

BYLINE=Keming Kuo

TELEPHONE=619-0936

DATELINE=Lake Crescent, WA

EDITOR=vicki swaney

CONTENT=

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INTRO: Intergenerational learning programs involving senior adults and children continue to grow in America, as the nature of nuclear families continues to change. [OPT] For example, Boston's Museum of Science invites seniors in the Elderhostel group to spend a week learning about lightning bolts and astronomy with children. Another program joins older adults with kids in Minnesota's north woods to learn about wolves and animal tracking. [END OPT] In the Pacific Northwest, a group of senior citizens and grandchildren recently explored the marvels of Olympic National Park in Washington State. ________ has more on the benefits of intergenerational learning.

AUD: CUT ONE SFX [children playing] IN FULL to :10, FADE UNDER TEXT: [tt - :30]

TEXT: On the shores of crystal-clear Lake Crescent, a group of children is learning about leadership skills by playing a game. For Jean Carlson, it's a chance for her to work on a crossword puzzle on the lawn of the Olympic Park Institute.

AUD: CUT TWO J. CARLSON :47

"What you're seeing now is 'free time' for grandparents. They take the kids and play games with them at this late afternoon time. We had a long bus ride today, and they need to run around and work off some energy. But we're together the first thing in the morning almost until you go to bed at night. I think it's great there's other children for them to play with and enjoy. I don't have to be the entertainer all the time. I'm not the drill sergeant either; I have the opportunity to be a camper myself and go to all the programs. That lifts the burden from the parent or grandparent-child relationship."

TEXT: Jean Carlson is here from Seattle, Washington, with her granddaughter, Maia:

AUD: CUT THREE CARLSON :34

"This is my younger granddaughter I'm here with. It's her first Elderhostel Intergenerational Program. She's taken to it 'hook, line and sinker,' [very well]. She's very enthusiastic about all the programs and the other children and it's fun to be with the other grandparents. It's a chance for them to blossom in ways they might not otherwise. I remember asking my older granddaughter what she liked about going with me here. She said with her mother in the room too- 'Well, grandmother lets us do stuff.'

TEXT: So, what's impressed young Maia the most about the snow-capped mountains, rainforests and rocky coastlines of Olympic National Park?

AUD: CUT FOUR MAIA CARLSON :10

"Well, I like the food, the warm food tuna melt, chicken burritos ..."

TEXT: Maybe it's because it's getting close to dinner time … But Maia says she has enjoyed her week with grandma and the other participants of the intergenerational program.

AUD: CUT FIVE MAIA CARLSON :35

"I live with my grandma and I just like old people. I don't know why … something about them. Their 'niceness' towards kids. I like being around them. There's one grandma', Doris, [she] and I know how to play bridge. So we get together and play bridge sometimes. But I haven't talked to them very much, because we've just come together, and we're leaving tomorrow. So… ."

TEXT: Tom Sanford, program director of the Olympic Park Institute, says their intergenerational programs offer a chance for seniors and youngsters to have 'quality time' together.

AUD: CUT SIX SANFORD :37

"They start to see their grandparents as more than 'pictures' that their parents show them. They get to hear first-hand their stories and realize with some vividness as they explore this place and hear about its history: 'Oh, this was built back in the 1920s, and I was just born.' [The kids] understand that this place is about the age of my grandparents. All the things they've seen in their lives: World War I and II and a lot about FDR [President Franklin D. Roosevelt] coming through this area as the grandparents were little kids. They can see that relationship."

TEXT: The Olympic Park Institute, part of the nonprofit organization, Yosemite National Institutes, is centered on an old resort built a century ago, the Rosemary Inn. Mr. Sanford says the picturesque setting, where grandparents and children share small cabins together, is ideal for exploring together:

AUD: CUT SEVEN SANFORD :18

"They're able to go at a pace that's made for learning. Therefore, everyone can keep up. Everyone is able to enjoy the space together and be active. The grandparents are often at a level where they need someone to provide some activities to do with the grandchildren so they can interact together."

TEXT: Timmie Peterson of Seattle is spending the week with her grandniece [OPT] and says she especially enjoys outings on Lake Crescent:

AUD: CUT EIGHT PETERSON :27

"Yesterday, we spent the day on the lake in canoes. Many of us had not done much canoeing. It was a mix of kids and grandparents -and not necessarily each grandparent-kid in each boat- though some were paired that way. Some were split up. We had to work together as a team to get the boat to go anywhere and cover the area that our naturalist hoped we would. We did; we did a good job until the wind kicked up." [END OPT]

TEXT: Ms. Peterson says she enjoys the company of the intergenerational program, describing them as a blend of active and quiet types:

AUD: CUT NINE PETERSON :2

"I get the feeling there's a pretty good mix of athletes and brains and nerds: they're all here. It's taken awhile for them to blend in, whether they wanted to or not. I'm not aware of any whining; we've done a lot of walking! Some were voluntarily, some as part of the program. The kids walk! They're not whining that they're tired, hungry …"

TEXT: [OPT] Laura Rich, a grandmother from Southern California, says the lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest provides a contrast for her granddaughter who is used to urban concrete.

AUD: CUT TEN RICH :35

"It's really great to come with a grandchild and introduce them to nature. I think kids today are lacking that. They're city kids and rely on city-types of entertainment, TV and all that. To see this with their own eyes they've been amazed at the greenery. We live in Southern California and it's dry down there. We don't have this greenery, the trees. And the water amazes my granddaughter, because we live in an area where we get [just] ten inches of rain a year." [END OPT]

TEXT: For another urban resident, Alex Perez, a boy who lives just outside Portland, Oregon, communing with nature has been great:

AUD: CUT 11 PEREZ :15

"I've really gotten a new interest this week, learning to spend more time with nature - not just running through the woods, but to really stop and look at everything there is. It's really a beautiful world."

TEXT: [OPT] Timmie Peterson says the children's experience amid all the wildlife may inspire some of them to pursue a biology career:

AUD: CUT 12 PETERSON :22

"The naturalists have drawn their attention to these things. We had one speak to them about rocks and how much of a treasure they are. The next day, the kids are spending all their time looking down looking at the rocks and breaking the rocks and paying attention. I think they've taken advantage of the environment they have here and drawn all of our attention to the little things." [END OPT]

TEXT: Many of the participants at the Olympic Park Institute such as Doris McHenry of Maine- were especially impressed with their visit to the Hoh rainforest, located on the western side of the park.

AUD: CUT 13 McHENRY :11

"It's just amazing when you look up and almost fall over backwards; they're so tall. It took eight of us [holding hands] to put our arms around one of the trees. My grandson was really impressed with that."

TEXT: Seattle's Jean Carlson agrees that the grandchildren at the Hoh Rainforest seemed to pay especially close attention to the guides:

AUD: CUT 14 CARLSON :39

"One of the best ones we've done is when the leader of the group in the Hoh rainforest would stop in a certain spot and take one grandparent and one grandchild and explain something about that place. Then it was the responsibility of the grandchild to explain it to the next pair of grandparent and grandchild. And so on … I was amazed at how what I thought was one of the quietest boys here could reel off the numbers of how old the trees were and all the details he was told from the group leader."

TEXT: It was a week of learning and sharing for grandparents and grandchildren alike. Now, it was time for the farewell dinner:

AUD: CUT 15 SFX dinner bell IN FULL to TIME [tt - :10] s/o