Social Learning and Innovation: Developing Two Shared-Site Intergenerational Reading Programs in Hershey, Pennsylvania

Human beings have a unique capacity for social learning and innovation that has supported the continued survival of our species. In 2010, 16-year-old Grace Wagler attended a public lecture about The Intergenerational School based in Cleveland, Ohio, and was inspired to imagine how similar intergenerational reading programs might be started in her hometown of Hershey, Pennsylvania. Over the past three years, she has helped develop two innovative shared-site programs at a residential care home in Hershey, an Intergenerational Reading Club and Intergenerational Storytime, that have increased reading and literacy skills in elementary-aged children while fostering social interaction, cognitive stimulation, and quality of life for elder residents, some of whom are affected by dementia.