‘Gimme! Gimmie! Gimmie!’ a senior prom at Atria

The seniors of the Atria Tanglewood assisted living facility became high schoolers again, grooving to disco music with the Key Club of Malverne High School at their “Senior” Senior Prom.

The point of the prom was to give the seniors an opportunity to revisit their youthful memories of their high school years, said Lilian Gambol, 15, of the Malverne Key Club — and what better way than a ‘70s disco theme?

The teenage students joined forces with Atria to transform the living facility in Lynbrook into a disco dance party on May 22. The Key Club, which has been a partner of Atria for years, collaborated with staff at the living center to create this lively event.

“The goal of the prom was to make sure the seniors felt youthful,” said Jahzara Spence, 14, a freshman in Key Club. “And for the kids in the club to brighten their mood.

The benefits are multi-generational.

“It’s amazing to see the generations come together to share their ideas,” Robin Calcagno, advisor of the Key Club, said. “The seniors love to talk to them about what’s going on in their life, and what they’re doing in school. And (the students) love to listen to the seniors share their memories and experiences with them. It’s just such a nice interaction of generations.”

“It’s important that they get visited sometimes,” Angellah Solon, 15, said of the seniors. “Having activities, doing stuff, going outside.”

According to Julianne Bertini, engage life director at Atria Tanglewood, the seniors love to take part in crafts, ping pong, jeopardy, and more activities with the Malverne students. About two to three months before the prom, the students visited Atria and made presentations about different themes for the ‘Senior’ Senior Prom.

“So, this year, they picked the 1970s disco theme,” Bertini said. “In past years, we’ve done 1920s and we were teetering on 1950s, but we planned it so that it would be like a gimme, gimme, gimme Abba disco party.”

The high school students made mocktails, brought snacks and desserts. Solon delighted seniors with her homemade chocolate chip cookies. Bertini decorated the Media Room in the facility and gave out accessories like disco ball necklaces, ‘70s glasses, headbands, and glow sticks.

“We aimed to make it as fun as possible,” Bertini said. “My residents love to dance and love to be active.”

Dancing with the seniors was her favorite part, said Karen Hernandez, 15. A few of the seniors were impressively good dancers, Gambol said, met with unanimous agreement from the other club members.

“They were so lively and joking,” Spence said.

The residents’ enthusiasm rubbed off on the students.

“I liked building relationships with them,” Hernandez. “I liked listening to their stories when they were younger as well. And sometimes they give words of wisdom to me.”

Events like these are important for the high school students, Bertini explained, because a lot of were able to get out of their shell over the past couple of months. Some start off shy in the beginning, but then Bertini saw them progress to the point where they bond with the residents.

“I think it’s important for them to know the population that has come before them,” Bertini said. “They understand that they’re just me and you just with age and I watched the seniors get more comfortable with them throughout the year.”

Atria plans to continue their long relationship with the Key Club into the next school year — and Key Club is planning the same.

“These are the girls who are the future of our school, of our community,” Calcagno said of Gambol, Hernandez, Solon, and Spence, who are all freshmen. “They’re the future of this club.”