ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 9, 1996 TAG: 9604090033
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: DUBLIN
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
He's funny, he's sharp and during this school year, 94-year-old Sam Bell has taught some Dublin Middle School students a thing or two about growing old.
"He really made me laugh," said student Amanda Atkins. "I didn't expect him to be funny at all, but he really was."
"I was surprised that he could so clearly remember something that happened over 80 years ago," said Josh Akers, another student. "I thought older people forgot a lot of things, but Mr. Bell surprised me."
They are among the sixth-graders studying a unit on understanding the elderly and the aging process. Teachers Carolyn Shelburne, Shelley Bird, Amy Lombardi and Carolyn Cochrane saw a need for better understanding and showing how age prejudices and discrimination could produce harmful outcomes.
In addition to their classroom work on the unit, the teachers had Bell visit classrooms in December where he talked to students about his life and the changes he has seen. He shared memories of his own school days, and drew laughter from students describing being in a first-grade play in Hattie White's class.
The students shared more laughs with Bell on visits to his home in Dublin, to decorate a Christmas tree donated by the teachers.
"This really was a wonderful experience for everyone involved. The children were quite lively during the decorating, and Mr. Bell commented he enjoyed having the pure energy of the children in his home," Lombardi said.
Another visit came in February to celebrate Valentine's Day, with each student making a personal valentine for Bell. The most recent visit came last month.
Other parts of the unit included having students read a variety of literature on the elderly, researching Alzheimer's and other diseases related to aging, and studying how the aging process affects the human body.
"Our objective is to show our students that, by developing health habits like eating nutritionally and exercising, they will be working to improve their quality of life now as well as during their golden years," Bird said.
Other parts of the study include the students publishing a cookbook with recipes from some of their older relatives, interviewing senior citizens in their community, and scheduling a visiting day at the school for older relatives and friends of the students.
"We feel the impact of this unit could be far-reaching," Cochrane said. "Our students will live out their lives in a progressively aging society. According to the [American Association of Retired Persons], our students are expected to live longer than any previous generation."
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Dublin Elementary School kids pay a visit to 94-year oldby CNBSam Bell of Dublin as part of their study on understanding the
elderly.