SAUGUS PROGRAM WILL PAIR SENIOR CITIZENS WITH SCHOOLCHILDREN.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Two generations at opposite ends of the age spectrum will come together once a week at Emblem Elementary School under an exchange program being organized by the PTA and the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center.

The PTA and the senior center are signing up elderly residents interested in spending Wednesdays at the Espuella Drive school. Organizers say the program will be both educational and social for youngsters and senior citizens alike.

``We want the children to have a feeling of what it was like when (the seniors) were growing up. In return, the children are going to be helping our seniors with computers,'' said Tori Spence, a coordinator of volunteer, recreation and education programs at the senior center.

``For our seniors, (participation) will help reduce their loneliness and depression. It's going to give both generations such a boost,'' she said.

The senior center, which draws clients from all over the Santa Clarita Valley, including Frazier Park, Agua Dulce, Val Verde and Castaic, serves more than 5,000 people each year with its programs, services and facilities.

The partnership with Emblem will provide the school with a band of volunteers who can help out teachers one day a week with classroom duties like reading to the children, or fun activities like collaborating on projects, Spence said. Enrollment at Emblem stands at about 800 students.

The senior center will provide free transportation from its Market Street facility to the school and back each Wednesday, and in turn Emblem will offer each senior a free cafeteria lunch so they can socialize with youngsters outside the classroom as well as in.

With an affordable senior citizen housing complex under construction across Bouquet Canyon Road from Emblem, reaching out to the valley's elderly residents seemed like a natural move, said Principal Jay Caulfield. The children, he said, respond to elderly people because they associate them with grandparent figures.

``(Senior citizens) don't have any idea how powerful their presence in the classroom can be,'' Caulfield said.

For the older population, often left behind or undervalued in today's fast-paced modern culture, imparting some wisdom and talking about their travels and life experiences with schoolchildren is rewarding because the youngsters often are an attentive audience, Spence said.

``The seniors love it (because) they're being heard,'' she said. ``The kids want to know more. They keep asking more questions, and (the seniors) love it because they feel wanted and they feel needed.''

The principal said he would like to have the program running by the time Emblem students return from their one-week fall break Oct. 26. In the interim, the PTA and senior center will continue to recruit volunteers.

Plans call for the Emblem students to occasionally visit the elderly folks at the senior center, Spence said.

``I could take any number and put them to work,'' Caulfield said.

For information on the program or to sign up, call the senior center at [phone] or Emblem Elementary School at [phone].