Photo by Mia Oritz for The Lafayette

Students in the first-year seminar, “Plants in Performance,” learn about the many roles of plants in people’s lives.

One first-year seminar this semester provided an opportunity for plants, students and seniors from retirement homes to grow together.

“It’s just a human interaction that is so lacking and so necessary,” said theater professor Courtney Ryan, who teaches the “Plants in Performance” class. “It was just great to see this intergenerational time together. It’s making me think about how we can do more at Lafayette.”

The class intends to shine some light on plants in performance, considering an “array of perspectives on how plants biologically perform and how they are (mis)represented in the arts,” according to the first-year seminar website.

“Plants in Performance” revived plants left over from LaFarm’s Mother’s Day plant sale for a plant and letter exchange with local seniors from Easton retirement homes throughout the semester. The partners met in person on Monday at the college’s downtown arts campus.

“We’re just connecting through plants,” Gabrielle Robinson ’29 said.  “I feel that’s kind of cool.”

Partners wrote their fourth and final letter on paper to share in person that afternoon. They ate sweet treats together and discussed their daily lives at the small event. Some gathered by the snack table, while others filled pots with dirt.

Students invited their senior pen pals to the upcoming Lafayette College Theater Department play “Sense and Sensibility.” Several said they planned to stay in contact with the seniors.

One student, Amaya Moore ‘29, wrote to senior Michelle, who did not give her last name. They spoke of everything from their families and interests to their favorite foods.

“I think it’s a good chance to connect with people outside of their little bubbles, so people in a different generation who live different lives,” Gabrielle Robinson ‘29 said. Robinson was pen pals with Amy, a senior who also didn’t give her last name.

Amy said that she grew her own plants years ago, before she moved to Easton. She found out about the event with Lafayette through one of the many Wednesday announcements at her retirement home and immediately signed up.

“It’s good to get to know people, what they’re about and what’s going on,” Amy said. “I just have me and my husband at home, and that’s all. I like to meet new people.”

Allison Czapp, the executive director of the non-profit Easton Area Neighborhood Center, said she had been in contact with Ryan through the Landis Center for Community Engagement. They coordinated with three retirement homes: Bushkill House, Harlan House and Shiloh Manor.

Czapp collected all the plants and checked in with seniors to arrange plant delivery. 

“What was really fascinating to me was just kind of getting this glimpse into who are the plant lovers among the seniors,” she said. “Some of the apartments that I went to do plant pick-up in, I could see they loved plants.”

Ryan said she is thinking about future opportunities for connection. 

“My brain’s whirling because some of the seniors I spoke to said they don’t really have any books,” she said.