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Springfield students serve 90 seniors breakfast
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Springfield High School seniors Alexa Packard, left, and Erinn Coe serve breakfast Thursday to senior citizens during an annual National Honor Society service project.
new middletown
Students darted in and out of the Springfield High School cafeteria Thursday morning holding steaming plates heaped with scrambled eggs, sausage and home fries.
Senior members of the National Honor Society were serving about 90 senior citizens, including some of their own family members, during a holiday breakfast that’s become an annual tradition.
“We’re a small community, and the schools are very integrated in the community. [The students] make you feel very warm and part of the family,” said Virginia Younger.
Younger was seated at a table decorated with colorful place mats across from Jane Crowe, who shared her sentiment.
“We come every year, and it’s very nice,” she said, as she listened to a choir performance that included her grandchildren, sophomore Rachel Crowe and junior Isaac Crowe.
Both women complimented the school system for making drama, music and athletic performances free for senior citizens. High school principal Anthony DeFelice said that’s part of the schools’ efforts to be inclusive.
“We try to incorporate our senior citizens in the schools,” he said. “We’ve discovered that this breakfast brings a great deal of joy and gives seniors the chance to associate with friends.”
High school senior Brianna Stevens said students enjoy the experience, too.
National Honor Society “is there to serve, and I love serving people,” she said. “... These seniors come for the happiness, not just the food.”
Senior Andy Swansiger said the breakfast, which is in its sixth year, fulfills part of the honor society’s mission.
“It’s about helping the community and making sure they’re taken care of,” Swansiger said.
The breakfast also reminds him of the giving-back sentiment that’s part of the holiday season.
“I like it, and it gets me in the Christmas mood,” he said.