Nicola Zaccaro, a student at the Istituto superiore S. Aleramo in Rome, explains how and why he decided to become a Knowledge Volunteer: “Thanks to this project we have grown up and learned to respect elders and exchange ideas with them.”
The students studying social and health assistance (Operative Methodologies for Elders) have embraced this experience as digital animators as a true routine of school/work alternance.
The two projects – Grandparents on the Internet and Teo - Third Age On-line, coordinated by Prof. Roberta Poli, are part of the school didactic programme and have been inserted in the official curricula for the 2013-14 school year as “Digital Literacy Initiatives.”
The Challenge of the “TEO Desk”
Thanks to Project TEO, Riccardo Pasquarelli (80) discovered that volunteering has no age limits. Riccardo attended the digital literacy course at the IIS Sibilla Aleramo School and is now using PCs with his friends at the “Primo Maggio” elderly centre, which he directs, in Rome’s Pietralata neighbourhood. Moreover, together with his wife Carla, they have adopted various “special” students over the course of the years. Thanks to the TEO Desk, managed by Knowledge Volunteers, the passion of students is turning into a job. (also see news on Grandfather Table)
Riccardo Pasquarelli won the fourth edition of the Knowledge Volunteers Competition in the “Best Senior Volunteer” category (see Awards and Certifications). Last Year, Nicola Zaccaro won the award as “Best Junior Volunteer."
