Local seniors help young Cromwell inventors prep for competition

Eunice Wiseman and Jack Reisch were impressed by their ingenuity: solar panels for a lunchbox, a dog vest that lights up at night, an edible spoon. “Kids come up with the most interesting ideas,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman and Reisch were two of a dozen Covenant Village of Cromwell residents who served as judges for Woodside Intermediate School students who were preparing for the Regional Finals of the Connecticut Invention Convention last month. Four of the 10 students who competed at the Regional Finals at Quinnipiac University were selected to present their inventions at the State Finals held at UCONN in April.

Connecticut Invention Convention has been promoting invention education in Connecticut’s schools for 34 years. This is the second year that residents from the retirement community stepped up to volunteer as judges for Dan Delia’s fourth, fifth and sixth grade students prepping for competition. Delia is the school’s Technology/STEM leader.

“It was a wonderful experience,” said Delia. “The students and the judges hit it off and I’m confident everyone had a rewarding experience.”

Prior to the presentations, Delia provided residents with a list of questions to ask students and gave them guidelines to follow when evaluating students’ presentations. Wiseman and fellow residents provided written feedback to Delia. For example, she suggested one presenter reference information on index cards, rather than reading information from the presentation board.

“This was a good experience for all of us,” she said. “Dan is so good with the students and you can tell they put a lot of time into their presentations. One wore a suit and tie!”

Reisch, a former engineer and judge, said he was impressed with the students’ “poise and creativity.” He plans to participate as a judge next year.

Delia hopes so, too. “The enthusiasm was palpable, and I am hopeful that this partnership continues for many years to come. Their impact will last a lifetime.”

This isn’t the first time Covenant Village of Cromwell residents shared their time and wisdom with local students. Each year, Covenant Village’s Community Partnerships Committee connects residents with Rebecca Loew, associate professor of behavioral sciences at Middlesex Community College. For Loew’s sociology course project, residents share their life stories with students, who, in turn, write memoirs about their imagined lives in their 70s and 80s.

“Our motto for the Community Partnerships Committee is ‘Come learn with us,’” and this is exactly what is happening when we connect with our community’s youth,” said Wiseman.

About Covenant Village of Cromwell

Covenant Village of Cromwell, a faith-based, not-for-profit continuing care retirement community, is located at 52 Missionary Rd., Cromwell, Conn. It is administered by Covenant Retirement Communities, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit senior services providers. Covenant Retirement Communities serves 5,000 residents at 15 retirement communities nationwide and is a ministry of the Evangelical Covenant Church. For more information on Covenant Village of Cromwell, please visit www.covenantvillageofcromwell.... or call 860-754-3039.