Grandparents College ignites attendees’ creative superpowers

During Miami’s intergenerational learning experience, grandparents make wonderful memories with their grandkids

By Miami University

July 23^rd, 2024

Asking kids to name their favorite activity during Grandparents College is like asking them to choose between Minecraft or Grand Theft Auto V, pizza or chicken nuggets. Every event is so much fun it’s nearly impossible to name just one.

The July 10-12, 2024, session on Miami University’s Oxford campus offered a whole gamut of classes and extracurriculars for the attendees, ages 8-12, and their grandparents, ages irrelevant — from blowing up volcanos with vinegar to building boxcars with candy.

Grandparents College ignites attendees’ creative superpowers

Evan Snyder, an 11-year-old and a three-year veteran of Grandparents College, thoroughly enjoyed working with his grandfather, aka Stu Petersen ’76, to transform their boxcar into a sweet ride. They chose Lifesavers for the wheels, toothpicks for axels, and a Dots box as the cabin. The STEM experiment was part of the Build a Boxcar! course.

“We made one that went straight down the ramp and went five runs in a row without falling apart,” said Evan, coming to campus from his home in Chicago.

Stu’s favorite course was Wood Chips to Paper Cuts! A Quick “How to” in Paper Making.

“I always like the paper class,” said Stu, who lives in Kettering. “Making the paper and seeing the other uses for paper that are not traditional, not newsprint, not boxes. And how they’re experimenting with taking it further. What’s the next step with paper?”

Outside of class — Grandparents College offered 14 courses this year — the grandkids and grandparents loved the one-on-one time at the school their grandparents attended. They also enjoyed sleeping in a residence hall and eating in a college dining hall. The biggest perk? No parents allowed!

For Priscilla Batsche Ungers ’77 of Cincinnati, this session was her second year, along with her husband Les ’73 and their twin 9-year-old grandchildren, Penny and Hank Parkhouse.

Priscilla’s family ties to Miami started with her grandmother, who lived in Ox College. Her parents met at Miami and were proud Mergers and all four of her siblings also graduated from Miami. She hopes that visiting the campus now will encourage Penny and Hank to apply to Miami when it’s their turn.

“I’m so impressed by the quality and the outstanding professors that led the classes,” Priscilla said. “The kids loved it, we loved it. We learned a lot. It was fun to be back in college.”

The Ungers’ grandkids repeatedly said throughout the three days, “I want to come back. I want to come back.” They can come back next year. They can come back two more years.

“We’re destined to get PhDs,” Les said. “We leave here nostalgic.”

To teach such a wide age range, from 8-year-olds to grandparents of varying ages, that’s a challenge for the faculty.

“But they do it,” Les said.

“That has to be a testament to the quality of these professors,” Priscilla added.

Jeff Tilson ’69 relished participating with his 11-year-old grandson, Charlie Stanley. Both live in Columbus. “It’s great to do the classes with your grandchild, No. 1. No. 2, as a grandparent, it’s wonderful to interact with other alumni that you had never met before and reconnect with those you’ve met in the past.”

Jeff’s favorite assignment involved touring campus to find inspiration during the Writing Miami class.

“It was a hike in the Bishop Woods, using our thoughts and observations to create a poem,” Jeff said. “For a science major like me, that was quite interesting.”

Jeff and Charlie hope to return next year. Unfortunately, that will be Charlie’s last opportunity, but his grandpa might come back in two years with Charlie’s little brother, who is now 6 and eager to attend.

“So that could give me ultimately nine years total. God be willing, we should live and be well to enjoy all those times,” Jeff said.

First-year participants Dorian Baucum, 8, who lives in Indianapolis, and his grandma, Ann Anderson ’76, who lives near her grandson, also enjoyed walking around campus during breaks.

“We needed to do something special together. Just the two of us,” Ann said. “And he’s shown so much independence here. He’s got everything figured out. He gets around on his own and makes himself comfortable with whatever group is nearby.”

In her fourth year attending, Diana Kohler ’72 of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, found it fun to introduce her grandkids to her alma mater.

“And it reconnects me to what was so wonderful here. I’ve started coming back to Alumni Weekend, too, and I think seeing how the college has changed is really interesting. I also know that kids who are exposed to college campuses are more likely to be college bound. It’s a gift I can give my grandkids.”

Diana and her granddaughter, Olivia Armitage, 12, who is also from Grosse Pointe Park, teamed up with the Amick family during the games class to create a spinoff version of Clue, turning it into a hide-and-seek adventure. Diana and Olivia have become good friends with the Amicks, meeting during past Grandparents Colleges.

As for the games class, The Secrets of Game Design, Olivia said she could have listened to the professor for hours. “His style of lecture was amazing and the topic fascinates me. I love video games,” she said.

“It’s become a tradition for us, too,” Diana said. “This is our last year as a team. Olivia has aged out, but it’s been the one special time that we have, just the two of us, so that’s been terrific.”