Brick Students Help Seniors Gain a Bit of Computer Knowledge

Under the watchful eye of Tyler Gelsleichter, Richie Cerritto navigated his way through a few computer commands.

“If you don’t see an hourglass, how can you tell it’s busy?” Cerritto asked. “Sometimes I don’t see one so I keep trying to click and nothing happens.”

“And then it freezes up, right?” Gelsleichter said.

“Yes,” Cerritto said.

“Look for a spinning icon,” Gelsleichter said, “and if it freezes up, don’t worry; it’s rarely a big problem.”

A few desks away, Anne Marie Fratangelo was walking Eva Cioffero through the steps of using Microsoft Word, while other pairs looked at Facebook or discussed searching for everything from websites to photos.

“This is amazing,” Roseann Scalzadonna said as she watched Cerritto and Gelsleichter talk.

“This” was a computer class for senior citizens, designed to walk them through some of the basics of what’s available to them at their fingertips while taking away some of the anxiety that goes with trying to learn the newer technology.

What made the class different – and special – was that it was being taught by a group of Brick Township High School students, members of the school’s Computer Club.

The Computer Club formed about halfway through the school year last year, said Carolyn Segreto, the club’s adviser who teaches an advanced placement course in computers at the school. While most of the students who started the club graduated in June, a handful – Vic Rivera, Brian Murphy and Gelsleichter – remained. The trio approached Segreto early this year.

“They wanted to get it going again,” she said, “and they told me they wanted to do community service. They wanted to share their knowledge with the community.”

The result was Thursday’s course, which included a PowerPoint presentation that covered a lot of basic computer information, including how to get on the Internet and Facebook – topics all chosen by the students – as well as hands-on instruction.

They spread the word through flyers distributed at the township’s senior communities.

 “I just wanted to shed some light on the basics,” Vinny DiBernardo said.

“I grew up in technology,” said Mel Akerley Sr., who spent his career working as a radar technician and a supervisor in electronics. “But I feel like Ben Franklin, with a kite and key, when it comes to (computers),” he said.

Akerley had special assistance at the computer class: Vinny DiBernardo is his grandson.

“It’s very special,” said Bonny DiBernardo, a special education teacher at the high school who stopped in to see her son and the other students in action. “They are like two peas in a pod. This is just another way for them to spend time together.”

"This is what we're trying to all our students to do, get involved in the community," said Mike Fletcher, who teaches advanced placement world history and has several of the Computer Club members in his class. "It brings the community to the school and the school to the community."

“You’ve got to do this again,” Eva Cioffero said as she handed her evaluation of the program to Segreto. “They were really good at explaining everything.”

“My grandkids come and fix my computer, but I don’t know what they did,” Roseann Scalzadonna said. “Now I have a better understanding.”

Segreto said there already is discussion of holding the program again, because there was so much interest.

“I had to turn people away,” she said. It’s an easy fix, however, because the students are so committed to the cause.

“This generation has grown up with computers. They are on them 24-7,” Segreto said. “They realize the older generation didn’t have that.”

Also assisting were Ryan Capper, John Morone, James Cortese, Anthony Cortese, Caroline Newman, Frank Nazario, Mark Yard, Christian Negri and Matt Pala.