A former Greenwood Community High School student cleans out the gutters of a home near Averitt Road and Main Street in Greenwood during a past winterization project. High school students will do the same Saturday, continuing a tradition of helping elderly residents get ready for winter. Daily Journal File Photo.
Greenwood Community High School students will continue a tradition almost three decades old as they set out to help senior citizens prepare their homes for winter by cleaning gutters, raking leaves, washing windows and trimming bushes.
The effort, called “winterization,” started in 1992. High school students devote a day each year in November to help local seniors. The effort originally included homes in Indianapolis, but after gathering steam and interest from Greenwood residents in need, it narrowed its scope to the city of Greenwood, said Laura Stadtfeld, family and consumer science teacher at the high school and faculty adviser for the project.
This year’s effort, planned for Saturday, will include about 150 students who will prepare 38 homes this year, many of which are repeats from previous years, she said.
“It’s the most awesome thing,” Stadtfeld said. “A lot of seniors want to talk to (the students) and have interaction. When seniors get to meet them, they’re thankful and grateful for the help. It’s difficult, especially if they’ve lost spouses.”
Ava Monroe, a senior at the high school, is in her second year helping with the winterization project. Her role in the effort is to conduct home assessment, visiting homes of local senior citizens beforehand and making sure students know what they need help with and what tools they’ll need to get the job done, she said.
Tools often include ladders, rakes, shears and lawn mowers. Lowe’s donated $100 to help fund the tools.
“Every Monday for the past two months we’ve been going out to elderly people’s homes, talking to them and asking what they needed,” Monroe said. “I think it gives values to students that we’re organizing something meaningfully.”
Josh Harris, also a senior at the school, has been involved with winterization since last year. His job is getting food for the students who spend the day helping others. That often includes pizza from Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza and Pizza King.
The food serves as a great reward for hardworking students, he said.
“I really enjoy helping people and I get to reward people for their hard work throughout the day — working through the cold, long day,” Harris said.
Svetlana Skoric, also a senior at the school, is part of the recruiting effort to get freshmen and sophomores involved in the project, and has volunteered since freshman year. Each student helps out at three homes, and Skoric helps organize those groups of students, she said.
“I love helping people and seeing the change I can make for them,” Skoric said. “The seniors are really sweet and I just love talking to them. They sometimes need someone to talk to.”
Kadence Baker, a junior, helped collect supply donations from Lowe’s, Menards and Home Depot. Baker is in her third year of helping with the project and originally joined because she has an interest in improving people’s lives, she said.
“I just like being out there and helping people and being able to make someone else’s day better,” Baker said. “It’s really nice to just be able to see a smile on the seniors’ faces. They’re expecting us to be there and they’re so appreciative of everything we do. The reward of making someone else happy is what encourages us.”
