Seniors Go Tech! - Helping Every Age Stay Connected

This month's featured Gold Girl Scout is Rachel Freeman who focused her efforts on helping senior citizens learn how to use technology to stay connected and active with their communities. Congratulations on becoming a Gold Girl Scout, Rachel!

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My Gold Girl Scout Project, 'Seniors Go Tech!', was designed to provide senior citizens the knowledge and hands-on practice with technology so they would be empowered to maintain and expand their connections with family, friends and their community.  Medical studies have shown seniors who remain socially connected live happier and healthier lives which benefit everyone around.  Technology is one way to help senior citizens can stay connected but many do not know how to use a computer, the Internet or smart phones.  

Although the retirement centers I worked with provided free internet access, only one offered access to community computers and none provided any type of technological support or education to their residents. I created lesson plans and held classes, as well as individual tutoring sessions on several topics including Introduction to the Internet, Introduction to Google, Using Facebook, iPads, iPhones, Email and Kindle for two local retirement centers.  As part of my project I created 'how-to' handbooks for the senior centers and local community groups so others could continue presenting the technology classes I created and possibly expand on the topics.

The 78 senior citizens who attended Seniors Go Tech! classes and tutoring sessions are now able to use their technology much more effectively. In the long-term they will become more connected with their families, friends and communities.  At one Seniors Go Tech! class I met Muriel. Muriel told me she was invited to meet some friends for lunch but she wasn’t going to go. When I asked why not she said she didn’t know where the restaurant was. I told her we could find the address and directions on the internet using her iPhone but she replied she couldn’t read maps very well any more. When I explained to her we could have Google Maps give her verbal directions on her iPhone she was so excited.  We found the address online, programmed the address into her phone and she drove off to meet her friends. I am happy I was able to help her learn how technology can work for her. In the future Muriel will be able to meet her friends for lunch, dinner and movies. She can share what she’s learned with her friends and they will all maintain their connections with families and friends and their community.

Seeing my new friends successfully using technology—some for the first time—was very rewarding. Seniors Go Tech! helped them learn to retrieve voicemail messages, send pictures, texts, emails and “surf the web” with confidence.  I was thrilled to help all of them learn how technology can help them in their daily lives and keep their social connections strong.

Enriching the Lives of the Elderly: A Gold Award Project for the Aging

Gold Award Girls

The following entry was written by Leah Hook, and covers her Gold Award Project "Enriching the Lives of the Elderly." Learn all about why she chose this project, how she accomplished it and what it's doing to bring joy for a particular group in her community. Amazing work, Leah!
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For my Gold Award project, I created a bird and butterfly sanctuary in the main outdoor garden (the Rose Garden) of the Wesleyan at Scenic Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation and Memory Care facility in Georgetown, TX. This entailed providing appropriate habitat for the birds and butterflies by creating new garden beds of native plantings that attract wildlife as well as installing a variety of birdhouses and bird feeders.

My project addressed the social and emotional needs of the 165 aging residents at the Wesleyan.  As in most health care facilities for the elderly, many of the residents there spend a great deal of time in their rooms, secluded from the other residents.  In medical terms, they are "socially isolated."  The bird and butterfly sanctuary enticed them to come outdoors more often to enjoy the beauty of nature. It also provided them opportunities to socialize with more of the residents and guests.  The enriching activity of bird- and butterfly-watching allowed them to develop both new hobbies and new social connections, thereby reducing their isolation and loneliness.

Over a year's time, I completely renovated the Wesleyan's Rose Garden which serves as the main gathering place for residents and guests.  This involved a great deal of manual labor (of my family, volunteers, and me): we weeded all existing beds, pruned all trees and shrubs, removed leaves and debris, planted new ground cover, drew new garden borders, developed landscaping plans, and selected and installed new native plants and a decorative garden trellis. The other part of my project entailed the the creation and installation of birdhouses, bird feeders and a butterfly house in order to draw wildlife to the gardens.

As the culminating activity, I presented a bird-watching program to the residents in which I educated them about the birds most common to Williamson County and their unique characteristics and calls.  This enabled them to identify the birds that are frequenting the Rose Garden.  Along with a slideshow presentation, I also created a bird reference guide, The Georgetown Chorus, of the ten most common birds to visit bird feeders and gardens in the County.

The most successful aspect of my 110 hour project was increasing senior resident's interest in coming outdoors and viewing the numerous birds and butterflies within the Rose Garden.  The overgrown, weed-filled, poorly maintained Rose Garden is now a beautiful, thriving bird and butterfly sanctuary teeming with life.  Some of the residents are participating in the project by adding birdhouses, bird feeders, and plants of their own.  Most importantly, the residents are interacting with each other as they talk about the new plantings and the different birds and butterflies that are drawn to the sanctuary.  With the new activity of bird- and butterfly-watching, they are building common interests and connecting socially.

Getting "Orch"-anized: A Girl Scout's love of music drives her Gold Award project

Gold Award Girls

The following entry was written by Mackinsey Anne Smith, a Gold Award recipient whose passion for music helped her identify the need for a restored  music collection. She then decided to focus her efforts in the music library at Austin High School. Read all about her project, challenges and her very sage advice to aspiring Gold Award girls.

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My Gold Award project, “Orchanization,” was designed to restore order to a crucial part of an orchestra, the music collection.  I chose this project because I love music and I wanted to give back to a music director and organization that has given so much to me. 

My project took place mostly in the orchestra room at Austin High School where an extensive music library is housed in 50 file drawers. The goal was to update the music database by listing the location and key details of each piece of music (ex: title, composer, arranger), as well as re-file the music in score order. Being able to quickly find music, including which parts may need to be borrowed or purchased, improves efficiency and reduces costs. This is how my Gold Award project evolved. The first part of my project was to accomplish or facilitate the steps noted above. This was done by going through over 1,600 music folders one by one to be sure they were properly filed and matched the database; over 325 folders were also put into score order. The second part of my project was to create a system that would make it easier to maintain the library over time. To do this, I created a website that details how to create and maintain a well-organized library. I also trained the Austin High Orchestra Board on how to maintain the newly organized library. The third part of my project was to expand the scope of the library to benefit more people. This was accomplished by reformatting the music database and uploading it to a cloud-based organization, management, and communication tool used by nearly 7,000 orchestra and band programs nationwide. 

I encountered several obstacles during my Gold Award project. The most apparent was that aspects of my project took much longer than expected, so I had to make adjustments. For example, my original intention was to put all of the pieces in score order, but after spending 125 hours on 325 folders, my project advisor and I agreed that this would have to be a longer-term goal as it would have required over 600 volunteer hours just to finish this one portion of the project. I also had to add a second database checking team, something I did not want to do initially because it increased chance of error. I learned that I need to keep the end goal in mind, but be flexible in how to get there. I had to be willing to make adjustments if something wasn't working out or was taking too long, and I had to recognize that good ideas can come from anywhere, even someone who was less knowledgeable than me, while also establishing myself as team leader. I had to train people in how to do each task and I had to check in frequently at the beginning when they were learning. Because of the nature of my project, my volunteers had to have some musical knowledge. This limited the people I could ask for assistance, but improved my communication skills by forcing me to ask people I didn't know well for help. 

In addition to maintaining good humor, patience, and flexibility, I would advise Girl Scouts beginning their Gold Award to download and carefully read the final report paperwork before beginning your project. It will tell you exactly what you need to track and document throughout your project so you can format your data in a way that the final report is easier to write. Lastly, chose a subject and organization you feel passionate about. This is likely to be the biggest, most time-consuming, and at times, the most tedious, never-ending project you have ever worked on, so it is important that it be something near and dear to your heart. And it will be worth it! You will grow as a person and as a leader, and see the change that a dedicated group of volunteers with a united vision can achieve. I know I have.