Grade 3 students bond with seniors over flowers
Students and seniors who were matched in a flower project through an Abbotsford elementary school were finally able to meet in person on Friday (May 6) for its completion.
The project, Planting Intergenerational Promises, paired teacher Debbie Mar’s 22 Grade 3 students at Upper Sumas Elementary with seniors through Archway Community Services.
The program was done in partnership with the B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.
The project began in September, with the intention of the matches meeting in person to plant flowers together. But due to the ongoing pandemic, an in-person launch was not possible.
Instead, the kids were assigned to create watercolour paintings of their favourite flower and explain in a written note why it was special to them.
The paintings were delivered to the seniors in October, along with art supplies. The seniors then created their own artwork to be delivered back to their student matches.
The students’ artwork was then turned into greeting cards to be sold, with plans to use the money to purchase small Christmas trees for the seniors.
But the project was put on hold when catastrophic floods hit the region in November. Upper Sumas Elementary was one of two schools in Abbotsford – the other was Barrowtown Elementary – that was heavily damaged.
Students and staff had to be moved to other temporary locations while repairs took place over the following months. (They were only recently able to move back into the school.)
The final portion of Planting Intergenerational Promises took place last Friday, when the students and seniors met in person for the first time at Archway.
The program included the students reading poems they had written and then making small floral bouquets with the seniors, using flowers from Confetti Floral Design purchased with money from the greeting-card sales.
They had also received some donations – both private and from B.C. Agriculture in the Classroom.
The pairs also planted seeds donated by West Coast Seeds and enjoyed refreshments.