21st Century Technology Connects Binghamton Junior High School
Several times each year the MSAT program is hosted by the Masonic Care Community. Teachers from all over New York State attend the sessions and spend several days enjoying our beautiful campus. At the last conference this spring, a teacher from a Junior High School in the Binghamton area, connected with one of our Wiley neighbors, Pearl Giardina. Pearl, is an active volunteer at the Masonic Care Community, and was assisting MSAT staff when she met Stefanie Olbrys from Windsor Central Middle School, and the two made an immediate connection that didn’t end when the conference was over. Stefanie had her students write to Pearl, and Pearl wrote back. Pearl sent students birthday cards and letters. Then enter Nick Norod from our Information Technology Department. Working with Stefanie, Nick set up a web conference between the students and Pearl. On Wednesday June 24, 2009, Pearl sitting in Wiley Hall in Utica and the students in their classroom a hundred miles away, met for the first time. The students introduced themselves, and Pearl, remembering their letters, said she was happy to connect the faces with the names. They told Pearl what they would be doing this summer, and their preparations to enter high school in the fall. Pearl said if they wrote to her over the summer, she would write back. There was even some talk about the New York Mets, which is Pearl’s favorite team. Stefanie says there were so many benefits to connecting her class with Pearl and she plans to get her new class involved with letter writing and web conferencing with the Masonic Care Community. This initiative shows how we are using cutting edge technology to connect our residents to the world.
