BRING THE GRANDPARENT CONNECTION SCHOOL PROGRAM TO YOUR COMMUNITY

When grandparents enter the world of their grandchildren at school, there are positive, measurable outcomes for families and schools!

Research shows:

  • Intergenerational connections are good for everyone’s mental health, including improved academic performance and social skills for students
  • Grandparents can provide a support network for students and parents
  • Grandparents volunteer and often support their grandchild’s education


The Grandparent-Grandchild Connection Workshops

Module 1: Intergenerational Sharing Fun

Music! Headlines! Technology! Grandparents and grandchildren can pull out their smart phones (or use school provided Chromebooks) to give each other a taste of the music, headlines and technology that define their generation.

Module 2: The Secret to Entering your Grandchild’s World

At the end of this session, grandparents will know what their grandchildren are studying in school, how to use the school website, all about extracurricular activities, clubs, typical social and emotional developmental stages and more.

Module 3: The Power of Stories to Connect

This interactive workshop uses storytelling to connect grandparents and grandchildren. Stories can inspire bonding around “shared” first experiences—a first day of school, a first crush–and shed light on each other’s day to day lives.

Module 4: How to Create a Culture of Sharing

Learn how to create a culture of respect and sharing in the family and how to translate values into activities that families can enjoy together.

"Your advice and leadership has allowed us to build strong connections with our students' grandparents - a relationship that will prove immensely valuable to grandchildren, grandparents, and our entire community."

- Michael Lebelfeld, Ed.D.
  Superintendent of Schools
  Deerfield Public Schools

"Grandparents are game-changers in the lives of their grandchildren and must seize every opportunity to shape memories, provide experiences, and heap love.  It is with this understanding that a grandparent should never walk away from the chance to engage their grandchild socially and academically.  Who is your grandchild's best friend and why?  What story is your grandchild reading in class, and what is the plot?  Never shy away from asking and being more!  Grandparents bring love to every facet of their lives.  Connect that love with education, and your grandchild is going to be a lifelong learner with a capacity for patience, empathy, and excellence."

- Nicholas Stoyas
  Associate Principal
  Edgewood Middle School
   

About the instructor

Author and Grandparent, Past General Director, JCC's of Chicago

Jerry Witkovsky

JERRY WITKOVSKY (MSW, University of Illinois) is a beloved mentor to thousands of individuals and generations of families, thanks to 47 years of professional leadership, eighteen of them as General Director of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago.  In 1995 he was named one of the city’s “Most Effective Non-Profit CEOs” by Crain's Chicago Business Magazine.  Since his 1997 retirement, Jerry has focused his considerable energies on grandparenting facilitation—helping multigenerational families work (and play) together to create a rich family life. He has taken what he learned from spearheading a growing number of school-based programs designed to strengthen connections between grandparents and their teenagers and strengthen school communities, and turned it into an online curriculum, called The Grandparent-Grandchild Connection School Program. He writes the Legacy Column for Grand Magazine, the publication for grandparents. Learn more at grandparentsunleashed.comDEANNA SHOSS (CEO, Intercultural Talk, Inc., Marketing) helps non-digital natives promote their businesses or life projects with digital, intercultural and real-life marketing. She takes and intergenerational approach that combines online communication platforms like websites, blogs, social media and video with tried and true practices such as partnership building, email marketing and in-person events. Deanna writes for the National Diversity Council and is the Tech Columnist for Grand Magazine, the Magazine for Grandparents. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish and French and is a certified Body Pump instructor. Learn more at interculturaltalk.com