Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
JOYCE MULLARD, left, learns how to tag people on Facebook from Hurley seniors Luke Marczak and Brooke Piilola Wednesday at the Hurley K-12 School. Mullard was at the school as part of a new Senior to Senior program that is connecting senior citizens with high school seniors.
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley - A new "Senior-to-Senior" program in Hurley - a partnership between the Hurley K-12 School District and the Iron County Aging Unit - met again Wednesday, providing an opportunity for the Class of 2017 to teach the senior citizens how to use various technologies.
Hurley seniors paired with senior citizens using a range of devices; including smart phones, iPads, computers and laptops - answering questions about using Facebook, downloading apps, Skyping and checking emails.
"This is wonderful. I learned a lot more than I thought I would today," Joyce Mullard told the students who were helping her use Facebook.
After the lesson, Mullard told the Daily Globe the students "answered questions I never thought I'd figure out."
Wednesday was the second time the group met, according to Mark Marczak, the aging unit's director, who said the feedback from both sides have been incredibly positive.
Marczak, who was one of the driving forces behind the partnership, said the reception has been better than expected.
"(It's been an) overwhelmingly positive response," said Marczak. "(The senior citizens) look forward to the next one."
He said the program is trying to have an event, once a month for the next several months. Last month was a general meet-and-greet he explained; and while December's event hasn't been set, future meetings will involve the seniors taking the students on tours of the Iron County Museum.
"The idea there is, they can explain the story behind the pictures and artifacts at the historical society," Marczak said. "It's good socialization for both ... they've made some friendships already. Some of my seniors today made a very specific point to say, 'Can I have my student again.'"
Reviews are equally warm from the students.
"We didn't know how our kids were going to react, and they've been super receptive to it. They had an hour-long conversation last month with the senior citizens," said senior class advisor Shannon Peterson. "It was fun to see, because our kids are the millennials and they are labeled as the kids who can't have conversations, or hold conversations."
Even on days like Wednesday where the students are primarily teaching, Peterson believes they are still gaining from the experience
"I don't think they know sometimes that they have this tools that other generations and other people don't know what to do. It's so natural to them that they don't know, 'Oh this is a skill I have,'" she said.
The opportunity to teach seemed particularly well-received by some of the students.
"I think it's kind of cool. It's good to teach seniors - a lot of them don't know how to use the technology, some of them know a little bit. It's good for us because they have so much life experience, it's good to teach us something too," said Dante Bender, who said he looks forward to future meetings.
Bender worked with another student to demonstrate Facebook and how to send pictures, as well as how to change the settings on one of the senior citizen's phones.
Former Hurley teacher and superintendent Sye Castagna was impressed with the amount of technology the students have access to throughout the day.
"I'm amazed. The school has changed so much," Castangna said, "and it's all for the better."
He was also impressed with the Senior-to-Senior program in general. "It makes us realize what the kids are going through that we didn't realize before," he said.
