Sharing technology
It was difficult to distinguish the teacher from the student as Les Roby, 82, explained the use of a slide rule to Shane O’Neill, 17, who in turn taught Roby how to create a pie chart on a laptop computer.
This intergenerational relationship developed as students at St. Michael’s Academy tutored residents from Rockwood South Retirement Community as part of the school’s SWAT Team (Students Willing to Assist with Technology) Program.
At the beginning of last year, St. Michael’s, a traditional Catholic academy, was selected to receive an $86,000 grant from the Beaumont Foundation. The grant provided the school with 15 laptop computers, a laser printer, three digital cameras, wireless access, computer cart and a document camera.
The grant also has a community outreach component. Part of the agreement in receiving the grant is that the students will teach senior citizens how to use e-mail, the Internet and basic computer skills.
Once a week after school, the Rockwood South van brings the seniors from the South Side to Mount St. Michael, a Tudor-Gothic structure high on a bluff overlooking north Spokane.
Each senior is paired with a tutor for a 45-minute session. During that time the tutors work with the adult learners on one or two things that they want to learn that day.
During a recent session Jackie Romero, 16, was teaching Irene Carter, 88, how to search the Internet using Google.
“I just want to learn the basics. She’s been such a good teacher. These kids are so bright,” said Carter. “She’s a boarding student, you know. She’s so far away from home.” Carter sounds like a proud grandmother when she talks about Romero, who is from Pomona, Calif.
“Computer language is the native tongue of teenagers, but to older adults it’s like learning a second or third language,” said Sister Maria Inviolata, the school’s technology coordinator.
Sister Inviolata sees this as an excellent opportunity for the generations to get to know each other.
She said older adults who attend school concerts often talk about family members they don’t see very often.
“The opportunity to stay connected through e-mail and sending and receiving photos allows them this connection, and it helps the kids, too,” said Sister Inviolata.
Ray Tower, 84, and Anthony Zver, 15, have become good friends during their classes together. Tower takes notes as Anthony shows him how to add addresses into an e-mail program. The two are so focused on what they’re doing, they don’t seem to notice anything going on around them.
“I’ve had students say, ‘Sister, they really listen to me, and they pay attention,’ ” said Sister Inviolata.
Sister Inviolata will continue the program with seniors from Rockwood at Hawthorne on the North Side during the next four-week session.
After the group from Rockwood South completed their classes they had a graduation ceremony. Each graduate received a pin in the shape of a computer with the inscription “Mount St. Michaels Academy SWAT.” There’s a small green stone in the computer pin, to show the computer has been turned on.