The elderly residents at Brookdale Senior Living have a wealth of wisdom, but they face challenges when it comes to ____1____. Tasks like turning on devices, checking emails, and finding apps were often ____2____, especially regarding cell phones. That was until a group of students from Canterbury School in Fort Myers, Florida, decided to ____3____.
A few years ago, after joking about how difficult digital devices were for their grandparents, Aaron Smolyar and his two friends came up with a(n) ____4____. They created CLEO, which stands for “Computer Literacy Education Outreach”. Their goal was to teach seniors how to use modern devices, and they ____5____ tried emailing Brookdale to partner with them. However, when they didn’t receive a response, the teens decided to take action and simply went to the center, which is located next to their school. They offered to volunteer their ____6____ to show the residents how to use their smartphones and connect with digital platforms.
Now, the CLEO volunteers visit Brookdale once a week, patiently helping the residents. They have developed close bonds with the seniors, making a lasting impact on their ____7____. Jonathan Smith, a resident at Brookdale, expressed his gratitude: “I couldn’t ____8____ how to text a picture until one of the CLEO kids explained it to me.”
The CLEO program has expanded, with six chapters nationwide. Its mission is to ____9____ the digital divide by giving senior citizens the skills to explore the digital world. The volunteers not only teach technical skills but also form meaningful ____10____ with the seniors. As Aaron Smolyar put it, “I don’t think we realized how much we were going to learn from the seniors themselves.”