Pembina Trails students write, record song with Winnipeg seniors

It started out as a group of students getting to know a few seniors in their community, but after spending a few months together and sharing their life experiences, they decided to write a song together.

The students are from Henry G. Izatt Middle School in Winnipeg, and the seniors are from Riverwood Square Independent living. The project is called Music-Life-Music.

"We developed a project ... and we used music as a vehicle to introduce the two groups and to get some really deep conversations going about interests and passions and of course stories, life stories come out of these conversations," said Mike Pizzi, Henry G. Izatt Middle School vice principal.

Pizzi said the 15-year-old students have been working with the seniors for about six months.

It's one of a number of initiatives the Pembina Trails School Division has with Riverwood.

On Wednesday, four students and seniors put their words to music. Their song is about the common thread between the different generations.

The teens are looking ahead to the future while the seniors look back at a life well-lived.

"They're very bashful and very quiet, and we kind of drew them out a little bit, but it was a wonderful exposure — a wonderful experience I should say," said 91-year-old Myrene Hodgson.

She wrote one of the verses in the song.

"[I] just feel at my age I'm lucky to be able to take part in such things as this and be able to contribute," said Hodgson.

Pizzi said the students are also taking something away from collaborating with the seniors.

"They're living in the moment, and when they do look back, it's really about the relationships they've formed with the people that they love. So that's what the song ends up becoming about and that's what was more meaningful to our students," said Pizzi.

The group hopes their song will help bridge the gap between the two generations.