By JESSE GRAHAM
IT was a day of students, seniors and selfies at the Puffing Billy last week, when hundreds of people took a train trip to celebrate Senior’s Week.
Students from Mater Christi in Belgrave joined senior residents from around the Yarra Ranges on Wednesday 15 October for a special day out, taking the steam train from Belgrave to Emerald.
Around 19 students from the school mingled with the seniors, having conversations and even helping them to navigate smartphones and tablet computers, taking self-portraits (or ‘selfies’) with them.
Deputy principal of Wellbeing at Mater Christi, Carmel Feeney, said the day was a fantastic opportunity for the younger students to interact with seniors and learn their stories.
“I think that respect grows with knowing, and when you get to meet people and talk with them and get to know their story, you can develop more respect for older people,” Ms Feeney said.
The group rode on Puffing Billy to Emerald, where they had lunch together, took walks and talked together, before returning to Belgrave in the afternoon.
Ms Feeney said the students received glowing feedback from the seniors, with an email coming in shortly after the event, praising the students for their engaging conversations.
“It was a gorgeous thing – when they were leaving, the students wanted to say goodbye to particular people because they’d had a lovely day,” she said.
The event also gave one elderly resident, 96-year-old Stewart Cook, the chance to have his first-ever trip on the steam train.
The 2014 Victorian Seniors’ Festival ran from 5-12 October.
