Elementary school in a care home. High school in a pandemic. These grads had quite an education

Grade 12 students Ava Schick and Asya Dinh used one of their last high school afternoons in June to return to the Saskatoon advanced care home where they went to school six years ago.

They sat down to interview each other, at CBC's request, about how going to elementary school in a care home and high school in a pandemic has shaped them.

"It made me more resilient and resourceful," said Dinh.

CBC News first met Dinh and Schick in June 2017 as they finished Grade 6 in a unique intergenerational program — known as iGen — that embeds a Saskatoon Public elementary class inside Sherbrooke Community Centre for an entire year. 

iGen students don't have a traditional classroom with desks. They do most of their learning or projects at various locations in the care home, often working side-by-side with seniors and people with acquired brain injuries.

Dinh, now 18, said the program taught her the value of being vulnerable.

"It's very difficult for people [with varying disabilities] to open up unless you are open to being vulnerable with them as well," she said, adding that she learned vulnerability is "crucial for effective communication."

Schick, 18, believes she's more open-minded and receptive to others because iGen taught her that everyone has knowledge and skills to share. She was inspired by Jodi Grant, a former professor who was paralyzed in an accident. Grant, who has since passed away, read to the Grade 6 class every day in 2017.

"It really sparked my love for reading," Schick said. "I think just being with her and seeing how much she loved academics and reading, and how much she valued teaching people, really meant a lot to me."

Dinh, a self-described overachiever, said she struggled to stay motivated while being forced to do her high school classes in isolation during the pandemic.

"Being isolated at home … made me susceptible to constantly overthinking and developing insecurities that I've never thought of before," she said.

Dinh learned that it was OK to ask for help to deal with mental health issues.

"There are many battles that you may not be capable of fighting on your own," she said, adding that she often thought about care home residents who had persevered through difficult times in their lives.

She also discovered she didn't need to rely entirely on her family and friends for happiness.