A group of Owen Sound St. Mary’s High School students want to become more involved with the community.
A recent visit by the teens to three Owen Sound retirement homes sparked their interest in community outreach programs.
Sarah MacArthur admits while it wasn’t easy for students to step out of their comfort zone — once they did, they gained a lot.
She says students participated in a wide variety of activities with the seniors — including games, sing a longs, exercise and some even provided manicure makeovers.
In return seniors shared their memories with the students whether it be lighthearted stories from their youth to horrors of the battle fields of World War II.
MacArthur says the giant generation gap quickly closed once students and seniors began opening up to one another.
MacArthur says she and her fellow classmates want to relive this experience, and are urging the school to provide more community outreach program opportunities.
This may happen soon, plans are in the works for a possible trip to Toronto where students will be able to volunteer at a soup kitchen for a day.
MacArthur says you just can’t gain this type of knowledge from a text book, it has to be experienced to be truly appreciated.
