FARRAH MAFFAI staff Linwood Middle School student Mac Womack, 11, calls bingo numbers to Mildred Humes and others at the Senior Housing Complex in North Brunswick on Friday. Linwood School SAFE program organizes holiday festivities
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Township students and seniors shared in some Halloween hoopla last week.
About 20 students dressed in costumes brought smiles and treats to residents of the North Brunswick Senior Housing Complex as part of Linwood Middle School’s Substance and Alcohol Free Experiences for Teens (SAFE) program on Friday.
“Each year we have approximately 70 students involved in the club,” Mercedes Minaya, a SAFE adviser, said. “The students are so eager to go to the senior center, we have to rotate the students to accommodate them all.”
With the help of Linwood administration and the North Brunswick Township police, health teachers introduced SAFE at Linwood in January 1997, Minaya said.
“The after-school club is a place for students to have fun and learn about the dangers of alcohol, drugs, tobacco and violence,” Minaya said. “We’re also active in the school and local communities.”
As part of the SAFE curriculum, Minaya and co-adviser Megan Keegan started bringing students to the Senior Housing Complex in the fall of 2002.
“We try to go two to three times a year, and we bring about 20 students each time,” Minaya said. “We want the senior citizens to see a more positive side of teens.”
On Friday, residents of the Senior Housing Complex met a motley crew of costumed students who catered to all of their needs.
A devil showed off her big red tail next to a cowboy on a horse calling bingo numbers, while a Viking handed out drinks and a hippie gave out candy and cupcakes.
Some residents enjoyed playing cards, tic-tac-toe and bingo, while others painted wooden ornaments of cats, pumpkins and ghosts with their newfound friends.
“Students also enjoyed performing their various talents such as playing instruments, singing, dancing and gymnastics,” Minaya said.
Minaya said SAFE’s holiday festivities won’t end with the visit to the Senior Housing Complex.
The organization is collecting hats, gloves and scarves for a Tree of Warmth sponsored by Women Aware in New Brunswick, and pennies to benefit the national Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Minaya said.
“We are also involved in a Thanksgiving food drive to benefit the North Brunswick Food Bank,” Minaya said.
In the upcoming months, SAFE students will hold a poetry night, participate in a statewide anti-smoking campaign, and will participate in a four-day conference promoting physical and mental wellness that teaches teens about the harmful effects of drugs, alcohol and violence.