TAMPA, Fla. — There is a Plant High School senior who loves history class so much that he created a program where he literally packs up his favorite subject and shares it with the community, specifically seniors.
Jordan Jasper’s drive and compassion began at the Tampa Bay History Center when he began bringing artifacts that were 70, 80, 90 years old into assisted living facilities as a way to bridge the gap between generations.
“I wanted to bring history to a demographic that was unable to reach it,” said Jasper.
At the beginning of the year, Jasper was a regular at assisted living facilities, often bringing toys from the past to the seniors of the present.
“And I would have a dialogue with them, conversations, and the idea is that I would bring back some memories, and give them a good time,” said Jasper.
He called the program Memories For Life.
“Many of them at that age suffer from memory loss and I was hoping to combat it,” said Jasper.
Then the pandemic hit and Jasper had to change his tactics. Instead of visiting in person, he not only made care packages, but he made toys too, including 100 paper slinkies.
“And that took a long time, it probably took about 25 hours to make in total, to fold and glue,” said Jasper. “I put in historical info on each one to engage the conversation, to provide entertainment during a time they need it the most.”
So far Jasper has delivered more than 200 care packages. He has even been recognized by the Bank of America Student Leaders Program.
“Students who are already showing leadership, thoughtfulness, looking at the bigger community around us, and I think from what we just heard from Jordan, it’s all of that,” said Ann Shaler with Bank of America.
Jasper has plans of pursuing a degree in political science.
