Kingswood Students Serve Up Fun at Carmelite Carefree Village

The anticipation was palpable as third-grade students from bounded in the front door of carrying bingo supplies.

That exuberance was matched by the residents who gathered in the activity room, waiting for their monthly get-together.

Bingo games among the students and the village's residents have been a standing activity since 1996. A different grade travels each month during the school year to spend an hour with the senior citizens.

The students sit with the residents, play bingo and have a chat while fellow students spin the cage and call out the numbers.

Kingswood Advancement Director Carrie Peters accompanied the children and said this is a very positive ongoing activity for the children.

“The children benefit in so many ways,” Peters said. “They learn compassion and respect for their elders.”

Peters said that a bond has formed between students and residents and the children enjoy their time with the seniors. After all, Peters explained, some of the students’ grandparents live out-of-state and the interaction is beneficial.

Tammy Hemingway is the activities director at Carmelite and said that the residents are the ones reaping the benefits.

“They love seeing the kids,” Hemingway said. “And some residents only participate in bingo games if the kids are here, never when we just have a weekly bingo [among] ourselves.”

Hemingway loves the intergenerational aspect, she added, explaining that it’s rewarding to see children as young as six-years-old with the Carmelite residents, who range in age from 80 to 104 years.

The activity room was fairly quiet as the numbers were announced, and an excited buzz ensued whenever someone shouted, “BINGO!” at which point a student would walk over to the individual, verify the numbers and proclaim him or her the winner.

Kingswood donates the prizes and usually include an assortment of activity books, bracelets, candy, and perfumed lotions and soaps.

Carmelite resident Louise Williamson participates in every bingo game.

“The kids perform a good deed, and I think it’s fun to be with them,” Williamson said.

Her third-grade counterpart, Jackie Lopez, said she enjoyed talking with Louise and the other seniors.

“And I like the game too,” said Lopez, smiling shyly.

As had been visible for the whole hour, both residents and students kept looking at each other with warm smiles as they tracked progress on their bingo cards.

Mary LaRocco, who said she looks forward to this event each month, sat at a table with three students—Pablo Diaz, Paddy Bowles and Adam Korinek.

When Bowles won a round of bingo, a student walked over with the prize tray, but the third grader wouldn’t take a prize for himself. Instead Bowles chose a bracelet and handed it to LaRocco who graciously accepted it.

A similar scenario resulted when a resident won and tried to give her student partner the prize. The warmth and the goodwill in the room were obvious.