Victoria Fahse & Katelynn Robert’s Senior Service Learning Project Our time volunteering at Pine Haven Health and Rehabilitation Center

The Life of Victoria Fahse Activities and Sports Member of Teen Power (for four years) Employee at McDonald’s (for three years) o Current Crew Trainer, future Manager

Victoria’s Future Attend the University of Southern Indiana Unsure of major Interested in Accounting o Currently taking a free online Accounting class provided by the Evansville Public Library to see if interested in the field

The Life of Katelynn Roberts Activities and Sports ● Member of Teen Power (for one year) ● Employee at JCPenney’s (for 8 months) ○ Position: Cashier and Customer Service Specialist ● Varsity soccer player for 4 years

Katelynn’s Future Attend the University of Southern Indiana Unsure of major Interested in Psychology o Took a semester of sociology and psychology last year, since then I have really thought about pursuing a career in this field

Pine Haven Health and Rehabilitation Center Their goal is to provide a caring, home-like environment for those elderly in the Evansville area in need of long-term nursing care. Their Services Include: Long-term or short-term care Rehabilitative care Hospice Care 24-hour Skilled Nursing Personal Care Out-patient services are also available

Our Mentor, Sheila Tuck Sheila is the activities director at Pine Haven. She is in charge of making the activities schedule, inviting guests for special events, supplying the supplies needed for activities, and supervising the activity. Sheila is very dedicated to her job and she loves seeing the residents having a good time.

Our mentor helped by informing us: Where to bring the residents (whether to or from the activity) What we do during the activities What to do during down time Who needs special assistants

How we spent our time with the residents Played Bingo and other games Had one on one sessions Painted nails Arts and crafts Listened to music sang by special guests Work out sessions Cleaned and organized activities office for the directors

Challenges Some of the residents were partially blind and deaf, had memory loss, hemiplegic, and could not speak clearly. It was often hard to communicate with them and find activities they were capable of doing. Solution: Speak louder Move closer to their face Repeat the same information you told them before and be just as enthusiastic about it as the first time Do activities their good side of their bodies could handle Make out what you can when they are speaking to you. Ask questions, smile, and nod your head. When they laugh, laugh with them.

Successes Encouraging and motivating residents to do things they do not want to do. Some of the residents are tired and weak and do not want to exercise. They were more energetic and willing to work out when my partner and I did the exercises with them. Some wanted to stay in their rooms and not engage in activities. When my partner and I got them to participate, we did the activity with them. It brought a smile to their face and they were willing to do another activity with us.

Personal Growth Our project taught us that even the littlest things can make a big difference in someone’s life. We should make the best of our lives while we are young because it is what we have to look back on and share with others. Spend that time making your life great and help others along the way.

Final Thoughts We are both happy that we chose this project because it felt good to make a positive impact on the residents’ lives. It makes them happy to see young, new faces that they can talk, laugh, joke, and play a few games with.