Traditional competition forms new bonds between seniors

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photo by Esmeralda Silva. Senior Loredana Lappano carefully removes one of the Jenga blocks in hopes she doesn’t knock down the whole tower. Lappano was one of the many seniors from Elk Grove to participate in the senior olympics.

On Dec 4, Leadership Council ventured to the Arlington Heights Senior Center to compete in the Senior Olympics against John Hersey High School and Rolling Meadows High School.

After competing against teams comprised of only EG students and senior citizens on Nov 6, the Elk Grove teams advancing to the finals were excited to compete against teams from Rolling Meadows and Hersey.

“I was most excited about meeting people from different schools and seeing the seniors from the Elk Grove senior center again.” senior Joey Ritondale said.

Bridging the age gap was not a difficult task for the seniors.

“I was most excited to see the transition from being awkward and uncomfortable with the seniors in high school and the senior citizens and then watching the relationship evolve by the end.” Assistant Principal Robert Murphy said.

Teams who advanced to the finals participated in games Jenga, Heads Up, Wii Bowling, putt-putt golf and billiards. The team games really brought the senior citizens and senior students together.

Many students commented on how well they got together with their senior citizen counterparts, including senior Yamilex Garza.

“We get along great. We always motivate each other and we’re always on the same page.” Garza said.

Although Hersey took home the trophy for the overall winner, senior Brendan Foster and junior Aleece Duffy, along with their senior citizens, took home the first place ribbon.

“We started out rough and then we got better. We didn’t really think about it much until people started saying ‘You have a chance of winning!'” junior Aleece Duffy said. “And when they said first place and then seeing the reactions on our seniors’ faces like, the one went nuts. She was screaming and it was a great feeling.”

Along with the seniors from EG, a few juniors went along to learn the ropes for next year.

“Well personally, I’ve already started hand picking and having try-outs for my seniors. I am very dedicated to the Senior Olympics.” junior Tyler Ingebrigtsen said.

With the success of this year’s Senior Olympics, it is no mystery that the excitement is already building for next year.

“I think it’s an awesome tradition and I’m happy to be a part of it.”  Physical education teacher Michael Radakovitz said.

By Esmeralda Silva