By CHERI BENTZ

Staff writer

Mary Olsen’s eyes sparkled with excitement while she waited Tuesday for Peabody-Burns fourth-graders to arrive at Peabody Senior Center. She was one of seven seniors waiting to mentor a class.

Senior center member Janie Hampton had brought her grandson along to the center a few times. He started playing cards with the seniors.

Her grandson and the seniors enjoyed the interaction so much that Hampton suggested a mentoring program with different grades.

The fourth-grade class kicked off the program, and other classes will meet in the future. Students came prepared with boxes of colored pencils, markers, and scissors to share with seniors.

Teacher Abby Gaede brought along a Thanksgiving coloring project for students to work on with the seniors.

Students were asked to color a turkey and write on the bird’s feathers what they were thankful for this year.

Seniors and students visited with each other at tables while they worked on their projects.

“It is life-giving to see the younger generation interacting with the older generation with a simple activity.” Gaede said while watching the students.