GARDEN GROVE : Lessons in Staying Young at Heart

In what is becoming a tradition around Valentine’s Day, pupils at Edison Elementary School in Santa Ana this week visited elderly people at a care center here to entertain, to spread cheer and to get tips on how to live to a ripe old age.

Twenty-five youngsters from Edison’s Esteem Team sang and danced and handed out valentines they had made. The fourth- and fifth-graders also performed a song in rap tempo that they hoped would be an inspiration.

The esteem program is funded by a state dropout prevention program and is designed to make youngsters feel good about themselves through singing and dancing and helping others, according to Frank Haydis, a Santa Ana Unified School District outreach consultant.

This is the third visit the students paid to the Garden Grove Community Adult Day Care Center.

Last May, the day-care clients and the youngsters at the predominantly Latino school also got together in a Santa Ana park for a picnic to celebrate Older Americans Month.

“These people are friendly,” said Graciela Arzola, 11, one of the performers. “And it shows what we can do at Edison.”

Julie Duarte, the adult day-care center’s assistant director, said the seniors, all handicapped, were energized by the visit.

“You could see their faces light up,” she said. “One of the seniors asked several girls their addresses so she could correspond with them.

“They talked all afternoon about how much they enjoyed the kids.”

The seniors, ranging from 60 to 96 years old, live in homes but need supervised care when their family members are at work during the day, Duarte said.

The center, operating in rooms rented at United Methodist Church, is partly funded by the federal Older Americans Act. It also gets funds from Orange County United Way and through donations of the participants.

The Edison Esteem Team was joined Tuesday by about 12 classmates who are participating in the school’s Peer Assistants Leadership program.

That group is studying nutrition and sought advice from the elders on how to live a long life and to pass the information on to classmates.

One senior advised youngsters to eat a lot of carrots. Another said lettuce was the secret to a long life. Another said that staying positive is important.

Another confided that life is good and that it’s worth staying around for. A man said he exercises, takes walks and gets a good night’s sleep.