POINT PLEASANT BEACH — The Point Pleasant Beach High School Gull Buddies and Mayors Wellness Campaign jointly hosted their second “T.I.P.S.” (Technology, Information, Privacy and Security) session for seniors at the school on Tuesday, March 25.
While there, senior citizens received personalized help with navigating contemporary technology, including common tech like iPhones, iPads and Androids. Attendees were invited to ask the Gull Buddies any questions they had regarding tech proficiency, like copying and pasting, taking photos and magnifying text.
Though the Gull Buddies, a club promoting social and academic mentoring, usually work with their younger counterparts at G. Harold Antrim Elementary, the T.I.P.S. event provided a chance for the Buddies to help another side of their community with everyday issues.
“It’s a nice collaboration between Mayor Vitale and us,” said teacher and club coordinator Mike McGee, who works with the Gull Buddies program along with adviser and teacher Mary Pierce.
“The beginning of the program was the high school kids going down to make a connection with the young Antrim students to form a better bond of community. We had our high schoolers teaching lessons a few times a year for kindergarten through third grade. It bridged the gap between those two age groups and we thought, what a great idea to be able to move in the opposite direction.”
“We did this last year, and it was so well-received that we decided to put it on the list of things that we’re going to do routinely, a couple times every year,” said June Cuzzo, chair of the Mayors Wellness Campaign, about the T.I.P.S. event. The first T.I.P.S. was themed around cybersecurity and avoiding scams. “This time, the focus is really on connecting the senior population and the high school Gull Buddies.”
Cuzzo said that the Mayors Wellness Campaign, under Mayor Doug Vitale, approached Point Beach High School and the Gull Buddies to collaborate on an event in order to fill in the “gaps” of parts of the community the team wanted to reach.
“Mayors Wellness, we really connected last year with the senior population because some of us came out of the senior committee; you roll that all together and it’s easy to take a look at where the gaps are,” she said. “So we approached the Gull Buddies, and they were extremely receptive to helping us with technology; it was just a great match, and the first time they did it, it was a terrific program.”
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