The community room of the senior housing site on Salem Street in Malden was one of the warmest places in the city last winter. In that room, all twenty-two residents of the building began cooking up a plan to partner with their neighborhood elementary school, the Salemwood School, and to support the efforts of other elders who volunteer as Reading Partners for the schoolchildren there. Fueled by compassion and decades of muscle memory, the senior residents of Salem Street hand-made bookmarks by the dozen. As the school year drew to a close, these residents, now calling themselves Team Salemwood, created summer reading packets for students their parents to ensure that the children would keep their reading momentum over the school break.
In August, Team Salemwood held a school supply drive to provide teachers and schoolchildren at the Salemwood School with much-needed art and reading supplies. With tremendous gusto, the seniors of Team Salemwood collected colored pencils and crayons, notebooks and activity books, flashcards, stickers, and other materials…in all, over $500 worth of supplies.
“My students could not believe all the items that were in the bag that was given to us,” said Elain Madeiros, a kindergarten teacher at Salemwood School. “Every time I showed something to them, they said, ‘That’s for us?’”
Terry Sasso, a Team Salemwood member, made bookmarks and donated supplies. “I realize that I am making a small difference and it feels good,” she said.
“I think it’s great that as seniors, most of us grandparents, can do something to help the children of Salemwood School,” said Lois Tamagna, another volunteer. “I hope other seniors can do the same for schools in their areas.”
In addition to presenting the kindergarten students with the new school supplies, Team Salemwood volunteers created Welcome Back to School folders for the students in the fall. Recently, the Team members assembled Martin Luther King Day activity books to emphasize the importance of community service.
Lauren Reid, the Volunteer Program Manager for Mystic Valley Elder Services, provides support for Team Salemwood’s projects. She describes the many successful facets of the Team Salemwood. “The members of Team Salemwood have shaped a volunteer activity has cognitive, social, and physical benefits for the volunteers, improves educational opportunities for the schoolchildren in their neighborhood, and builds a bridge of cooperation and inter-reliance between the oldest and youngest members of our community,” she said. “
And it’s fun and worthwhile.”
Dr. Jonathan Ponds, principal of the Salemwood School, confirms that the efforts of Team Salemwoord are making a difference in the lives of the schoolchildren. “This partnership is providing our children with a gift that will last and serve them for a lifetime,” he said. “The love of reading.”
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Team Salemwood is one of many elder volunteer projects that Mystic Valley Elder Services supports through its Community Programs department. Other older adults are volunteering as money managers for elders and adults with disabilities, reading partners for area schoolchildren, lunchroom staff at senior dining sites, and SHINE counselors providing critical and unbiased Medicare information to people who call. If you’re looking for a way to become more engaged with your community, give us a call at 781-324-7705 or fill out our downloadable volunteer application. If you’d like to support the great work of our senior volunteers, visit our website to donate.
Pictured above: Principal Dr. Jonathan Ponds, Team Salemwood members Lois Tamagna, Haroldine Carr, Mary Sampson, and Rose Rizzo, and Vice Principal Joanne Lanergan.
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