Margaret Mead once said, “Somehow we have to get older people back close to growing children if we are to restore a sense of community, a knowledge of the past, and a sense of the future.”

Margaret Mead once said, “Somehow we have to get older people back close to growing children if we are to restore a sense of community, a knowledge of the past, and a sense of the future.” The Osborn Retirement Community and the Rye Youth Council are about to embark on a project to do just that.  

As part of the new RYC Day of Service Initiative, high school students and their parents will have the opportunity to meet with an Osborn resident, listen to his or her life story, and then create a brief written biography for The Osborn’s “Living History Book”.  

Rye Youth Council Director of Teen Engagement, Casey Carlucci DeCola, believes that the program will foster awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage and traditions, and promote a healthy and integrated community in Rye. And the organizers hope that the initiative will become a regular event over the course of the coming years.

“We are planting seeds that will help adolescents grow in countless, positive ways,” says Ms. DeCola. “This kind of program has the potential to transform minds and souls through mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships of respect and caring.”

Students from all Rye high schools are invited to sign up. The event will take place at The Osborn Saturday, March 7 from 11 to 12:30. Due to space limitations, the first session has to be capped at 20 teens and their parents. For sample biographies and to sign up, visit www.ryeyouthcouncil.org. If you have questions, contact the RYC office at 967-3838 or email cdecola@ryeyouthcouncil.org.