ProPEL students help senior citizens with technology

Many senior citizens struggle with technology and how to use it, so the ProPEL class took a trip to help them understand technology on Oct. 23.

The Minnetonka Community Center hosted an event called Seniors for Seniors in which ProPEL students are involved in annually. The students were paired with a senior and taught them many new things about their phones.

“I had a couple who both did not know much and it was really rewarding to teach them about basic things like how to send texts and take pictures. To them it was groundbreaking and something they could have never figured out on their own,” said Angela Perez Jauregui.

The ProPEL students were not the only teachers in this situation, the seniors also taught them a lot.

“It was a really cool experience to converse with people who have so much to talk about and share their perspectives and life experiences with me,” Perez Jauregui said.

Kirsten Slinde and Jesse Theirl, are the teachers of ProPEL who run this program.

“Mr. Rexroth started this program, he asked if we wanted to participate and of course we did! It is a great opportunity for both HHS seniors and senior citizens to be exposed to other generations. Making connections with different generations is a great way to learn about life and experiences,” Slinde said.

Volunteering is a huge part of the ProPEL curriculum besides the Seniors for Seniors program the students are also collecting money and donations to donate to The Link.

“We sold coffee and bagels at conferences in the elementary schools, have been collecting donations all week long at lunch and we are doing fundraisers at both Blaze and Chipotle in order to raise money for The Link,” said Morgan Hawley, senior.

Overall, though the service work ProPEL is involved with does not go unnoticed, the positive impact ProPel has on the community should not be understated.