Year 10 students from St Joseph’s Regional College had the opportunity to work with the residents from St Agnes’ Hostel, Maryknoll and Mount Carmel which are all a part of our Catholic Care of the Aged (CCA) facilities.

Some of the most socially isolated people in our society are the elderly, however, they are also some of the most knowledgeable members of our community and should be treasured. The students were able to collaborate with the residents to compose a memoir about their lives.This involved multiple visits to the facilities to form connections with the residents and learn from and about their lives.

This was an enlightening experience for much of the class as they learned about many things. This included the struggles that the residents face, how life was different for them and how it has chaned over the years. The residents told the students about growing up in the wars and the Great Depression, and widened our perspective of society and culture.

The finale of the project was the creation of their memoirs – these were books created by the students that told the stories of their lives, complete with pictures and anecdotes. These will help give the residents a sense of achievement and purpose from their lives as these memoirs detail just how much they have done and contributed to society. The books are also an amazing gift for the family giving them something special to remember their loved ones by.