Throughout the six million years that humans have existed, from the first moment humans walked this earth to this very moment in time, generations and generations of people have gotten the chance to take part in the history of the world. Some families have had the honor to be related to individuals who have marked this world more than some, but that does not mean that the other individuals do not have a story to tell. The first step to learning about the past is to listen, which The Intergenerational Life Story Project decided to do.

Students from the city’s youth program, Teen Committee, and CHS interviewed seniors in the Senior Program Committee about their life stories over Spring Break on April 7th and 8th. The guidance of Katie Distelrath, who is the supervisor for the Youth Programs, and Jennifer Helé, the Site Coordinator for the Senior Programs, and many more helped out with this project. The seniors were interviewed and asked questions by the younger generation, and the recordings of the interview were then shared with the families of those who were telling their story.

“I think this project is a positive and great way to get teens involved with learning some things about someone different and people who are older,” junior and participant in the event Vanessa Pena said.

Simply hearing the stories of one’s ancestors cannot compare to seeing them being told, seeing their faces light up as they share their experiences and wisdom. This is what The Life Story Project worked hard on with the help of Sarah Hills, the Video Production teacher, as well as Krista Elhai, the theatre teacher. This project not only included the older generations, but also the youth and everyone who participated.

In a world like today, the history of relatives seems to slip further and further with each generation. It is important that younger individuals do not forget about the stories of the older generations.

“The Life Intergenerational Story Project is an amazing way for our youth and seniors to learn from one another,” Distelrath said.

About 18 seniors were interviewed including someone named Dr. John Maguire who once was a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Having the youth respect their elders more as well as learn from what other people had to say were the goals of The Life Story Project.

In this great big world, ages range from young to old and each individual has had his or her own experiences. Each individual has his or her own tale to tell. As a society that can not seem to soak up enough history of the past, it is the job of the people to listen, to listen to the experiences of everyone whether it is his story or her story because overall it is our story.