Teen helps seniors with cyberspace

[attach]3302[/attach]You have one new friend request.

Guess who it is…

Grandma?

Could be, thanks to one midtown teen.

“My grandparents had these laptops that they had no idea how to use or even turn on,” said Kascha Cassaday, the creator of the Cyber-Seniors program.

After showing her grandparents how to use email and Skype, they were hooked.

“Letting my grandparents talk to their children so far away, face to face, that was something that was really just eye opening for them,” Cassaday said. “To see how excited they get, it was kind of like a little kid at Christmas time opening a present.”

The Cyber-Seniors program sends volunteers to nursing homes to teach residents basic computer skills, particularly how to communicate through the Internet. Cassaday, 17, started the program while in grade 11 after seeing how much her own grandparents enjoyed using the Internet.

“I wanted to be able to share that with other seniors especially when they are in nursing homes, it’s harder for them to see their children or grandchildren very often,” Cassaday said. “So taking that gift to them and teaching them how to use the computer was a lot of fun actually.”

For her work in the community, Cassaday was recently nominated for an Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year Award.

“I nominated Kascha because I believe she’s a very, very outstanding young individual,” said Teisha Mahabir, the program administrator for Cyber-Seniors. “Kascha’s work within the community I think has inspired a lot of people.”

The Cyber-Seniors program boasts around 30 volunteers and is offered at four nursing homes. Even though Cassaday plans to study broadcast journalism or communications at university next year, she hopes the program will continue to grow.

“I want to be able to expand it to other parts of Canada or even the States. Because a big thing of the Cyber-Seniors also is we like to do pen pals,” Cassaday said. “So I think it would be more interesting having seniors in Florida, let’s say, communicating with seniors in Toronto or somewhere in Canada.”

Cassaday has also been to India and Martinique where she volunteered to help children.

“Not only does she help in Toronto and in her community but she goes to other people’s communities and definitely lends a hand as well,” Mahabir said.

The teen is also a prefect at the York School, works on the school’s newspaper, is a member of several school committees and plays on the ultimate Frisbee and basketball teams. She credits her maturity and time management skills to being the fourth of five children whose parents are entrepreneurs.

“You kind of have to find your niche in such a big family,” Cassaday said. “They think I’m the keener in the family.”

Cassaday’s ambition has earned her the admiration of her peers and other community members. The winners for the Ontario Junior Citizen of The Year Award will be announced Jan. 21.

No matter what the outcome, those who know her say we can all learn something from Cassaday.

“I think that everyone should look at Kascha as a role model,” Mahabir said. “Definitely the young children of today should look up to someone like this and follow in her footsteps and do something positive in the community helping other people.”