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'Senior to Senior' program connects older adults to students exploring career paths

Students in the Avondale Elementary School District had some special visitors this week.

The Agua Fria Union High School District has a program called "Senior to Senior," which usually connects older adults in the community to high school seniors. The aging residents act as mentors and help students explore their career goals. As an example, Agua Fria Superintendent Mark Yslas said:

"A senior [resident] has spent a career in the military and then we have senior students who are looking at going into the military and they're able to share that experience."

This week, they brought the program to younger kids. Avondale’s superintendent, Betsy Hargrove, says Senior to Senior participants read to grade-school kids in their classrooms to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

“Avondale Elementary School District feeds directly into the The Agua Fria [Union] High School District," she said. "We try to find opportunities for us to come together around curriculum certainly, but most importantly making sure that kids know their pathway into high school and beyond.”

Hargrove said she hopes her students will remember the visit and decide to participate in "Senior to Senior" when they get to high school.

Senior field correspondent Bridget Dowd has a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.