Teens repay storytelling seniors with service
One storytelling senior citizen said Cleveland needs more projects like this one.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Senior citizens have shared their stories with younger generations forever, but now a Cleveland State University faculty member wants to make sure the seniors get something in exchange.
Under a program Dwayne Wright created called “Our Stories,” high school students paint the storyteller’s front porch and plant flowers while other students gather the tales.
At Cleveland State, teachers are encouraged to engage students, but Wright said he decided to take it a step further.
“I try to engage the community and build relations,” said the assistant professor in the department of curriculum and foundations.
With a $3,000 grant from Neighborhood Connections, Wright bought a video camera and painting supplies. He recruited teens active in the Friendly Inn Settlement and other community centers around Cedar and Central avenues. Members of the group have been meeting weekly since March to learn interviewing techniques and line up older residents.
Their third stop was Friday at James Calgie’s house on East 35th Street.
Calgie sat under a tent next to his house and told a 14-year-old girl about the neighborhood where he has spent most of his life.
“I always considered Cleveland a nice country town where you could keep your doors open,” Calgie, 94, told Shereena Johnson, who took notes while another teen videotaped.
While they did the interview, other teens worked under the blistering sun, painting Calgie’s front porch.
Calgie, an Army veteran and former community leader, said that years ago he taught the young people in his neighborhood woodcarving and other crafts to keep them busy and out of trouble. Sadly, he was unable to protect his son, who died of a drug overdose.
Calgie lamented that many people have abandoned the neighborhood, taking stores and theaters with them. Now the many locks on his door remind him of a prison.
Cleveland needs more projects like “Our Stories,” he told the students.
“I feel blessed that I have people like you to come down,” he said.
After the interview, Calgie went inside to look for old photographs.
“I got pictures all over the place,” he said, returning with a sack full of albums.
He pulled out a brochure about the Cleveland Community Health Network, which included a photograph of a much-younger Calgie when he was president of the group.
Chris Scott, an East Technical High School senior, said this type of community service is valuable, and rare.
“You don’t see a lot of people doing this,” he said.
Graduate assistant Adriennie Hatten has been helping with the project. Listening to older residents talk about how to make the community better has gotten teens asking what they can do.
“It’s hard to come from a place you think is bad and go out and do good,” she said.
The teens plan to paint as many front porches as they can this summer, then publish a brochure of the stories and make DVDs to give to seniors and libraries.