A2 THE COURIER-TIMES IROXBORO, NC
SATURDAY, DEC. 24,2011
Remembering elderly Personians at Christmas
COURIER-TIMES STAEE WRITER
mil(efloy(l@roxboro-coutier.com
As the spirit of Christmas
swoops in and out of the hearts
and homes of America, does it
reach out and touch senior citi
zens with the same effect?
Wendy Brown, nutrition man
ager at Person County’s Council
on Aging, explains that seniors
certainly benefit with time spent
away from an adult facility or
the home they occupy The free
dom of getting out for a visit can
certainly lift spirits. Brown also
stressed that any holiday visits
with a loved one be done with re
laxed dignity so there is no feel
ing of “tasking” or it being an
obligation.
Canada’s Mission Partners
International Senior’s Minis
tries on-line explained, “Many
seniors remember a day when
life was not so hard. A time when
they were not as restricted to a
tiny pension. A time when they
could afford better food. A time
when they did not need so much
medication. A time when family
and friends would gather togeth
er for a meal and laughter.”
Mission Partners goes on
to suggest “a basket of Christ
mas goodies will certainly turn
heartaches into joy. Making sure
there are nutritious staple foods
like tea, rice, cereal and sugar
along with several treats such as
cookies, candies and chocolates
that give each food parcel a holi
day flare.”
At Person Memorial Hospi
tal’s (PMH) Extended Care facil
ity, the activities director, Shelvy
Torain, puts the name of every
patient on a huge Christmas tree.
Then Santa comes in, selects
each name off the tree, and each
PMH employee becomes “an an
gel” who buys a Christmas pres
ent for that particular person.
During this week’s Angel Par
ty, pianist Yohanna Yubwannie
performed several Christmas
songs for staff members and pa
tients.
Jill Strickland, director at
Roxboro’s Healthcare and Reha
bilitation Center (RHRC), said
to make Christmas special for
their residents, “they have been
celebrating the whole month of
December.
“We have had groups coming
in singing Christmas carols and
bringing gifts,” Strickland add
ed. “We enjoyed a big party and
lunch last Tuesday and always
encourage 100 percent family
participation for every event. We
send out schedules to each fam
ily so they can plan on joining in
the fun.”
Linda Frazier, RHRC activi
ties director, added that resi
dents enjoy “hot chocolate so
cials,” while sitting around the
giant wide screen television.
Last Thursday, residents
were treated to an added holiday
manicure — “to make them feel
special” — from the staff while
watching the movie, The Santa
Clause, with Tim Allen.
Frazier listed other special
programs coming up for the new
year such as Crazy Hat Day, Chi-
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MIKE FLOYD I COURIER-TIMES
Santa Claus visits with patients at Person Memorial Hospital’s Extended Care facility Thursday afternoon.
nese New Year, Valentine’s Day
and even a Derby Day theme
“where the residents can bet on
the horses by using the big TV
screen.”
For Christmas Day at the cen
ter, Pastor Philip Chryst, of War
ren’s Grove United Methodist
Church, will be there delivering
a special Christmas service at 10
a.m.
“This is my 12th year going to
different nursing homes in the
area,” Chryst said. “They have
been some of my most tender
moments while being with the
seniors. We have the service,
we sing hymns and I read from
Luke, chapter 2, which is about
the birth of Jesus.”
PHS’ Peer Group Conneetion provides unique bonding experienee
BY GREY PENTECOST
COURIER-TIMES STATE WRITER
greypentecost@roxboro-coutier.com
A group of freshmen and up
perclassmen at Person High
School have been bonding in a
unique way this semester as par
ticipants in the new Peer Group
Connection (PGC) leadership
program.
Through the program, devel
oped to help ninth-graders with
the transition to high school, 25
juniors and seniors began serv
ing this year as peer mentors to
a group of approximately 130
high school freshmen.
The program is being funded
through a dropout prevention
grant Person County Schools re
ceived earlier this year.
The student mentors went
through an application process
to become members of the year
long PGC leadership class, in
which they are trained to facili
tate weekly discussions and ac
tivities with freshmen.
The freshmen are divided
into groups of 10 to 15, with each
group assigned two peer men
tors.
Adult mentor Angelas Hunt,
who serves to connect freshman
with various services, said the
student mentors were doing a
“great job.”
She continued by saying not
only do the mentors conduct
hour-long activity sessions with
their groups each Thursday, but
they also check in with their
mentees throughout the week.
Peer mentor Cinzia Petty, a
senior at PHS, told The Courier-
Times she has “a good group of
kids” who listen and want to
learn. She said they as mentors
are like friends to their mentees,
reminding them to stop them in
the hallways if they need help or
someone to talk to.
Petty shared that one student
gave her a note about something
she had wanted to tell her, and
later the two were able to discuss
the issue together.
The group culminated the
first semester by hosting a fam
ily night on Monday at PHS.
Families of the freshmen and
upperclassmen in the PGC pro
gram were invited to the PHS
library Monday to learn about
some of the things their chil
dren had been doing over the
semester.
PGC teacher Allison Bowers
explained to parents that the
peer mentors had been working
this past semester with fresh
men on things like communica
tion and test-taking skills.
Other skills peer mentors
learn through the course include
team-building, group facilita
tion, problem solving, decision
making, time management and
handling academic pressures.
After viewing a skit put on
by some of the student mentors
demonstrating the importance
of parent/teen interaction, at
tendees were divided into two
groups to participate in an activ
ity similar to ones the students
had done during the semester.
During the “fish bowling” ac
tivity, in which a group of people
is involved in a discussion while
another group listens, parents
GREY PENTECOST I COURIER-TIMES
A group of parents, assisted by Peer Group Connection student mentors, discuss parent/child relationships while student attendees
listen on, during a “fish bowling” exercise Monday as part of the PCG family night.
were given the opportunity to
participate in a guided discus
sion while student attendees lis
tened. Next, students discussed
while parents took on the roles
of observers.
Parents discussed questions
Giving Santa a helping hand
SUBMITTED
Person County Sheriff’s Office officials recently delivered over 200 toys to the Person County Office
Building to assist Santa’s Helpers. The toys were donated by sheriff’s office employees as well as
participants in the G.R.E.A.T. program, which is led by the sheriff’s office.
such as, “Why do parents repeat
themselves a lot?” and “What is
the most important thing you
have learned from your chil
dren?”
Student questions questions
included, “How do kids handle
being compared to brothers and
sisters, either negatively or posi
tively?” and “What do teens like
to talk about with their parents,
and what topics do they avoid?”
Mentor Corey Bailey told The
C-T he loved working with his
mentees, and that he looks for
ward to seeing them graduate
high school.
Tomease Higgins, one of the
freshmen mentees, said the pro
gram offered him and his fellow
freshmen participants a place to
talk to other students their own
age, and a place to talk about
their problems and learn how to
fix them.
Higgins said he’s learned
more about having better rela
tionships with friends, and how
to make new friends.
He said it’s also been helpful
having a mentor to talk to and
get help with homework.
Higgins also said he hopes the
program will be available to oth
er ninth-graders in the future.
Mentor and PHS junior Alli
son Daye shared that she thinks
the program is a great experi
ence for both mentee and mentor,
as it gives mentors the chance
to learn about themselves and
ways to improve their leader
ship skills.
She added that parent partici
pation in their children’s lives
is key to the program’s success,
and said she hopes the program
will be continued in the future.
“I’ve seen tremendous growth
in the kids,” said mentor TyrelT
Perry.
He said that bonds had been
created between mentors and
mentees.
Mentor Jasmine McCuTTum
said it had been interesting
hearing her mentees points-of-
view, and said participating in
the program has helped her to be
more understanding and consid
erate of perspectives different
from her own.
If it weren’t for the program,
McCuIlum said, she probably
wouldn’t have gotten to know
most of the freshmen she’s been
working with.
She added, “I wish them all
luck.”
Early paper today,
no paper Wednesday
In order to give the staff time
with their families for Christ
mas, today’s edition of The Cou
rier-Times was published one
day early.
Also, as is customary, The C-T
will skip an edition next week.
Therefore, the lone edition that
will be published in the upcom
ing week will be on Saturday,
Dec. 30.
The C-T office will be closed
Monday through Wednesday,
Dec. 26-28. The office will open
for regular business hours on
Thursday, Dec. 29, at 8 a.m. The
office will be closed on Monday,
Jan. 2, in order to allow the staff
a holiday in observance of New
Year’s Day