A 62-year age gap didn’t stop a good time between Presley Staraniec, a student at Valley Jr.-Sr. High School, and Kathy Kapustik, a resident at the Riverview Senior Living apartments in Harrison.
“I’ve always liked going around and meeting new people,” said Presley, 14, as he played games, made Valentine’s Day crafts and ate cookies with Kapustik, 76. “No matter your age, it doesn’t matter.”
That notion was echoed Friday afternoon as 15 students on Valley’s student-athlete council shared crafts, cookies and conversations with 11 residents at Riverview Senior Living.
“It’s refreshing to have them here and have something to do, different from the normal day,” Kapustik said.
“I wasn’t sure how they’d feel about being here.”
Interactions broke any stereotypes or misconceptions between Gen Z and senior citizens.
“Most people believe young people don’t understand older people,” said Roman D’Argan, 16. “Doing stuff like this, you understand we’re not that different. It takes young people and older people to make the world go ’round.
“Most people view places like this where older people sit in their rooms all day. You see these people are active, and see their personalities.”
Riverview coordinator Mary Jendrey, who is also a New Kensington-Arnold School Board member, said the cross-generational interactions are crucial for senior citizens’ mental health and well-being.
“They seem to all be having a good time together,” Jendrey said. “I hope both sides understand how awesome it would be when two generations come together and understand why they do what they do, and I think that’s happening.
“When seniors — or anybody, really — when they become isolated, it really weighs heavily on their mental health.”
Linda Glovier, 84, said she enjoyed getting to know Isaiah Godfrey, 14.
“It just makes you happy,” Glovier said. “He’s very polite, he was interested in learning my name, he was very conversational talking with me. It’s very nice.”
