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MAY 15, 2007 / Legacy Project / -- Who says kids today don't listen to their elders? Thousands of young people across the country entered the Legacy Project's annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest. Their entries ranged from playful to poignant, and inspire others to take the time to listen to someone's life story. The Legacy Project at www.legacyproject.org, a national education initiative with the nonprofit Generations United in Washington, DC, offers parents and teachers plenty of ideas and activities for building closer connections across generations.
For the annual Listen to a Life Contest, which starts each year in September, young people 8-18 years interview a grandparent or grandfriend 50 years or older about their life experiences and submit a 300-word essay.
"Learning about real life from real people is powerful for kids," says Legacy Project Chair Susan V. Bosak. "And we all need to feel that our life has meaning, that we've left a legacy. So having someone listen to their life experiences means the world to many older adults."
The national Grand Prize winner of a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer and a $500 Books Are Fun gift certificate is Eleanor Cawthon, 13, a grade 8 student at Rowland Hall-St. Mark's Middle School in Salt Lake City, Utah. She interviewed Reed Hart, 69, who's part of the Tenth East Senior Center. Her English teacher, Mike Roberts, encouraged his students to enter the Listen to a Life Essay Contest. The visit to the senior center was part of a community service learning project.
Hart shared his experiences in the Navy serving in Korea. "When I asked Mr. Hart what he would like to leave the world's young people, he said a recording of the interview. My essay is his wish fulfilled," says Cawthon.
Cawthon says the experience has even changed her views of school. During the interview, Hart explained that he dropped out of school after the tenth grade, only to return at age 30 to earn his GED. Says Cawthon, "Education has skyrocketed as a value of mine. School isn't a waste of time. School prepares you for life."
One of 20 runner-up winners of a $200 Books Are Fun gift certificate, Valerie Kraus, 13, of Fountain Valley, California, interviewed grandfriend and Holocaust survivor Emilie Schleissner. "She is 93 years old," writes Kraus, "What I love about Emilie is that she has always insisted I call her by her first name. "I am Emilie!" she exclaims, "not Mrs. Schleissner."
Schleissner, while held in a concentration camp, was forced to work as a typist for the Germans. "One day, she recognized a name she was typing," writes Kraus. "It was her fiancé's name. He had been designated as one of the camp doctors. Now, he would be transported via train to Dachau, Poland within months of the war's end. She was devastated beyond belief. Sadly, Emilie would never see him again."
Other winners wrote about personal challenges. Meagan Johnson,
13, of Comanche, Texas, explains how her great-aunt Sue Vaughn,
75, has inspired her by overcoming a "disability, though she wouldn't call it that -- more like her unique ability." When Johnson was 11 months old, surgery ruined her vocal cords. She has gone through life communicating in her own language. She speaks using a series of clicks and taps made with her mouth and tongue.
In schools across the country, custodial staff might not get the recognition they deserve. Nicholas Thielen, 17, of Elkton, South Dakota wanted to change that with his essay "Charles Marquardt: The Man Behind the Mop."
"It's about eight o'clock in the morning and I'm on my way to school, just like I have been for fourteen long years," writes Thielen. "As I walk into another stressful day of school, my day is instantly better as I see the sparkling floors, clean enough to eat off of, the windows so clean it appears there is no glass at all, and the lemony fresh scent floating through the air."
Entries also touched on the historically significant. Peggy King,
80, of Wallingford, PA, told her grandson Mike King, 16, about the Kent State shootings. She was there that day, and believes the incident was started by the National Guard mistaking the nail guns of roofers working on the library as gun shots. She contacted the FBI and told them what she thought happened, but received no response.
And there were personal warnings. Judy Abbruzzese, 65, of Worcester, Massachusetts began her interview with family friend Kate Lyons, 18, with blunt honesty: "If anything kid, never be like me." Her lifelong addiction to drugs has lost Abbruzzese her family and her health.
Simone Livshits, 10, of Waterville, Maine, learned simple life lessons from artist Losang Samten, 72. Samten was born in Tibet, where he was a monk, and then came to the US. He makes sand paintings of mandalas.
"Most people want to make money rather than doing what I do. Everybody these days are running after money. They call me a 'starving artist.' I don't like how artists aren't appreciated until they die, then the people begin to respect and like the artists' work," says Samten.
Sharon Zanti, 17, of Leesburg, Virginia, took a lighthearted approach to her essay about grandfather George Wirth, 71.
"In our family, Grandpa is the 'lecturer' -- he can talk for hours, jumping from Columbus to Calculus. The last time I asked Grandpa for chemistry help, he was expounding on the atomic bomb ten minutes later. Although he sometimes overwhelms me with facts, I appreciate why he does it."
The youngest winner was Devneet Singh, 8, of Duluth, Georgia, who shared the life story of her "Nani maa," the Hindi word meaning "maternal grandmother." The oldest entrant was Julia Morell, 105, of East Northport, New York, who was interviewed by her great-grandson John Marsicano, 13.
The next Listen to a Life Contest begins September 9, national Grandparents Day. Interviewing a grandparent can be a great activity for families as part of a family reunion or other summer get-together.
For all the winning life stories and lessons, along with Across Generations activities to bring generations closer, visit www.legacyproject.org.
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