A note from Mary Hanson, Language Arts instructor at Fosston High School:
“I wanted to take a moment to thank Northwest Minnesota Foundation for their generosity in helping to fund the Life Story Project here at Fosston High School. I thought I’d give you an overview of the project and give you a more personal ‘flavor’ of what we do.
The Life Story project is an extended, multi-pronged project that I do in my 10th grade English classes. It takes over 9 weeks in length. I work in conjunction with the Essentia Volunteer Coordinator here in Fosston. Students are grouped in twos and threes and then matched with an adult volunteer who meets us at the Nursing Home/Assisted Living facility each interviewing session. Together, the team works with an Essentia residents two times per week during my class period for about seven weeks. When not at Essentia, the students work to create a hardcover book on Shutterfly — 20-30 pages, 8 1/2 by 11″ in size. When the books are done and back from Shutterfly, we have a celebration at Essentia with speakers, an iMovie of our process (that I create), and food! The public is invited, and it’s always a very touching time. I create a Share Site on Shutterfly so families can order additional books without the school being involved at all.
Prep work includes reading a book by Eric Bergeson called A Treasury of Old Souls and blogging about issues of the Elderly. We also receive volunteer training and privacy training from Essentia.
The project has won a number of awards, statewide, nationally, and even internationally, mostly because of the ‘community’ aspect of this project. No one is doing this kind of thing on an extended basis. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the adult volunteer in each group. That adult helps bridge the gap, answer questions or help if something comes up.
I also cannot emphasize enough the benefits the students gain through this project. As a bonus, many establish a very special relationship with their elderly subject, which is, of course, the ultimate goal. Many books have been proudly on display at funerals, as we have lost many people over the years. Overall, we have produced 70 Life Story books in 3 1/2 years.
Thank you again for helping to make this project possible at our school!”
