Teens From Cristo Rey HS Get An Education At Senior Citizen Center
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Students at Philadelphia's Cristo Rey High School spent part of their school year giving back to the community. They participated in a unique program with senior citizens at Mercy LIFE North Hancock Day Center.
Angie Ortiz is a Freshman at Cristo Rey and interned this year in the Recreational Therapy Department.
"I love it! I get to experience work and it prepares me for college," she said she learned a lot from the seniors at the center. "I would say they have given me wisdom."
Senior Jane Appenbrink was impressed with Angie and her classmates.
"I think they are all really lovely," Appenbrink said. "The biggest thing is that they all seem to enjoy elderly people. They have a reverence and a patience to be with us and we really appreciate that. "
Appenbrink, a retired Travel Agent, has this message for teens.
"We have a lot of to offer," she said. "We really can teach you something and you'd be surprised what we could give you."
Supervisors at the facility say the seniors have a tendency to reveal more to the students then anyone else. The students arrive full of new ideas and breathe new life into the facility.