PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Lisa Lipsey, Activity Director
Office Phone: 858/674-9719
Cell Phone: 760/822-3764
E-Mail: lisa@sunshinecare.com
National Grandparents Day Council Honors St. Michael's Catholic School of Poway
Sunshine Care Hosts Awards Ceremony

Saturday, September 25th -2:30 p.m. Awards Ceremony
POWAY, CA - September 23, 2010 - On Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 2:30 pm, DJ McQuade, daughter of Grandparents Day founder Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade and the National Grandparents Day Council will present the “2010 Forget Me Not Heroes” award to St. Michael's Catholic School in Poway, California.
The Forget Me Not Heroes Award is an annual, national awards competition. The National Grandparents Day Council encourages eldercare communities and skilled nursing facilities to nominate a group or organization that volunteers to brighten the lives of seniors through an ongoing visiting program or through enhancing their Activity programs. Past winners have included service clubs, church groups and youth organizations. This is the first time an entire school, grades pre-k through fifth grade has won the award!
Saturday's ceremony will also recognize the winners of the Grandparents Day Essay and Coloring Contest In partnership with St. Michael's Catholic School, Sunshine Care sponsored an essay/coloring contest for Pre-School - Fifth grade students that have been participants in Sunshine Care's weekly intergenerational program, The Great Friendship Link, now in its third year. One winner from each classroom was selected and will receive a framed certificate and a $25 Barnes and Noble gift certificate.
Contest winners include: Reese Covington, Jack Terry, Althea Judy Tabuena, Evelyn Diaz, Katie Felsberg, Hayden Rivera, William Clayton, Nicole DePinto Avilez, Emma Dunning, Kennedy Olivia, Carly Tucker, Allison Grygar, and Emily Smedley

Forget-Me-Not Heroes 2010

Back Row (L-R): Lisa Lipsey, Emily, Allison, Elizabeth, Carly, Kennedy, Amy, Emma, Rose, and Sam Stelletello
 
Front Row (L-R): Althea, Reese, Jack, Evelyn, Nicole DePinto and Katie
Photo Courtesy of Beverly Stevens Photography.

ABOUT SUNSHINE CARE, POWAY, CALIFORNIA:
Established in 1990, Sunshine Care is a community of assisted-living homes on a 32-acre Campus in Poway, California. This unique alternative for assisted living specializes in Alzheimer's and Dementia care while providing an environment with all the comforts and reminders of home. Sunshine care provides the highest level of individualized care and attention that we would want for our own loved ones. Sunshine Care is also on the cutting edge of activities and going green, from our intergenerational programming to our organic farming. The campus has an on-site greenhouse and orchards where fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown from seed and later integrated into the house menu plans. For more information, please visit www.sunshinecare.com

ABOUT THE GREAT FRIENDSHIP LINK

In 2008 St. Michael's School principal Kathleen Mock began searching for a program close to school grounds that would provide ways for the lower elementary school children to serve others, she had no idea the answer would be in the school's own back yard.
“Our mission as a Catholic school is not only to provide an excellent academic education, but to provide opportunities for our students to become involved community members, as this is one of our school's five School-wide Learning Expectations for each of our students.” said Mock. “We had been searching for a project, so when Lisa Lipsey, the Activity Director from Sunshine Care called with the idea of their intergenerational program called The Great Friendship Link, we knew it would be the perfect fit.” added Mock.
The National Council on Aging defines intergenerational programs as activities or programs that increase cooperation between any two generations. They involve the sharing of skills, knowledge, or experience between old and young.
“We chose St. Michael's School because we were impressed that they focus on the whole student and that part of their mission is to educate about service and compassion,” said Lipsey.
Using a rotating schedule, preschoolers through third grade visit the assisted living community, which means the residents have a classroom of student visitors every week. The students are paired with residents to learn about current curriculum topics, play games, solve riddles, or just sit and read a good book.
Interestingly, a large majority of the Sunshine Care residents are former teachers, a possible reason for the program's success. “They still have their long-term skills, so this is a great opportunity for the residents to teach someone something they know about; it provides an avenue for them [the seniors] to give back, too!” Lipsey said.

ABOUT ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL:

Established in 1964, nationally recognized St. Michael's School educates students in Preschool through 8th grade and is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Western Catholic Education Association (WCEA). The mission of the school is to encourage students to embrace the rich heritage of the Catholic faith tradition in an educational setting of compassion, justice, charity, and service. The administration and teaching staff, together with the parents, are dedicated to providing an education that will result in the formation of the whole person - spiritual, moral, emotional, intellectual, and physical. St. Michael's School admits students of any race, color, religious and ethnic origin. For more information, please visit: http://www.stmichaels-school.org