"Each student has a notebook on which they jot down the exercises and subjects to cover with their elderly students. Today’s lesson, introduced and coordinated by Rita Desideri at the Liceo Lorenzo Rocci, is to develop a PowerPoint presentation on the area of Fara in Sabina, a small municipality in the Province of Rieti. Like many other towns in the area, the population is falling fast here, too.” Eleonora Curatola describes the situation in class when she attended a Grandparents on the Internet lesson at the Liceo Lorenzo Rocci in Passo Corese.
"Today, we are creating the captions for the presentation; next time we’ll add music, links and animations. We already know how to do it, as Rita showed u show to do it on Word,” explain the determined students about their senior students, who are already browsing the web to download images for the presentation.
Each grandparent is tutored by one of 25 students from the third and fourth-year classes at the school. During the lesson, some of the elders share their memories of the traditions and habits of Fara Sabina. "We didn’t know about these things,” confess the students that are fascinated by the elders’ stories.
The unusual class composed of different generations is very tight. They work well together, trust each other, are emphatic and exchange knowledge. Mrs. Maria Loretta provides loving advice to the timid tutors, but also asks them a lot of questions to help them overcome their shyness and grow more confident.
Nicole, instead, has already grown confident and is expertly tutoring Mr. Mario.
Nicole, invece, ha già preso sicurezza e guida con maturità il signor Mario.
“In September, they always ask us to hold the course again,” explains Prof. Rita. “They want to learn how to use a computer, but the social and human aspect is also fundamental. An unexpected discovery!”
