Carpinteria Youth and Seniors Create YouTube Gener
updated: May 29, 2009, 4:05 PM

Video interviews between elementary school kids and Seniors in the Carpinteria community can be viewed on YouTube, thanks to a grant from the Santa Barbara County School "Teachers Network". . The videos can be viewed online at www.YouTube.com/GenerationExchange.

Local filmmaker Larry Nimmer conceived the Generation Exchange idea and along with Canalino School teacher Cindy Calvin, they have helped 3rd grade students and local seniors to successfully create and post of series of "Generation Exchange" video activities on YouTube.

Nimmer says he conceived the project as a way to have seniors and youth mentor and enjoy each other. It also has the benefit of having videos online that the family and friends of the participants can enjoy for years to come. Nimmer believes this format can be applied to more sessions between youth and seniors, not only in Carpinteria, but, anywhere.

Nimmer solicited four seniors to participate from the Senior Lunch Program at Memorial Hall. The participating seniors were Tom McBride, Wilma Heidenrich, Charles Lo Bue and Mary Campanele, most of whom are in their 80's. The participating 9 year olds from Canalino Elementary School were Roman Marquez, Olivia Martinez, Shane Reno and Hannah Souza.

Each senior was paired up with a 9 year old. The first activity was for the 9r old to interview the senior about their life. Then, the senior interviewed the student about their life. All the interviews were videotaped by other students under Nimmer's direction.

The second activity was for the different teams of seniors and youth to write a fictional story together, taking turns writing one sentence of the story at a time. Afterwards, the teams read their stories aloud to the class. These were also videotaped and posted on YouTube.

Nimmer believes the Generation Exchange activities help create an environment where youth and seniors can socialize in a meaningful way, each benefiting from the other. It's also an opportunity to record for posterity, the thoughts, feelings and activities of people form different backgrounds and generations.

www.youtube.com/GenerationExchange

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Video interviews between elementary kids Seniors Carpinteria community viewed YouTube