Principal Seeks Partnership Between Senior Center, Kids

Rick Haffner, the principal at Lincoln Heights Elementary School, went to the Southside Senior Activity Center this week with an invitation.

“I’m here today primarily to encourage a partnership with the Southside Senior Activity Center,” Haffner said during a luncheon talk on Tuesday.

He said seniors can provide role modeling, tutoring and plain old personal contact for children who are starved for attention.

Many of the parents in the Lincoln Heights attendance area are struggling to get by financially, and their hours limit the amount of time they can spend with their children, Haffner said.

“Our children are suffering because they don’t have enough community support and the presence of people who can change their lives,” he said.

Seniors who volunteer at the school get to wear badges that read “guest teachers.”

“Show up at Lincoln Heights, and I will get you connected with children,” Haffner said. “The teachers need your support.”

He said the children will benefit by learning to relate to older people.

In return, seniors who work with children get their appreciation and affection and might even learn something about new ideas such as computer skills.

Haffner has endorsed a plan by senior leaders to turn the proposed new Southside Senior Activity Center into a community facility for all ages.

For example, seniors may sponsor after-school tutoring programs.

Seniors who get involved in the school must fill out forms and have a criminal background check, which is required by state law.

Haffner also asked his audience to consider enrolling in the McGruff safe house program, in which homeowners put up a sign in their front window and are trained to help a child in distress.

That could be helpful in a neighborhood that has a high number of registered sex offenders, he said.

The senior center is more than halfway through a $2 million fundraising campaign to build a new permanent senior center on Ray Street at 26th Avenue.

During his talk, Haffner announced that the parent teacher group at Lincoln Heights Elementary is planning to make a financial contribution to the project. No amount was specified.