Photos: Chris Emeott
Three East Ridge High School alumnae guide older adults through the digital landscape with patience and compassion.
In the ever-evolving world of technology, older adults (those not in a “digital native” generation) can feel left behind. But a group of three recent East Ridge High School (ERHS) graduates are determined to bridge that gap and empower seniors, by teaching them how to use technology to improve their lives and connect with loved ones. Together, Emily Zhou, Mirella Janssen and Eliza Kubicek—2025 ERHS graduates—founded SavvySeniors, an organization designed to provide hands-on tech education to seniors in local senior living communities and through virtual lessons.
Janssen, Kubicek and Zhou first connected in their 10th grade AP chemistry class, though they’d known each other a little bit before then, and started chatting about their personal experiences with seniors and technology. “My grandparents are all the way in China, so I had to get on regular [virtual] calls with them,” Zhou says.
“And my grandparents live in Hungary,” Janssen says. “It was hard to communicate with them and to be there to assist them with their technology.”
“My grandma actually lived with us for a while,” Kubicek adds. “I helped her with tech when she struggled. We realized that not everyone has people near them to help them—like Emily’s and Mirella’s grandparents. We thought we could help seniors who didn’t have family members to connect them to technology.”
In December 2023, the trio spent hours in coffee shops and libraries, designing their signature technology curriculum for seniors. Their game-based lessons covered topics like two-factor authentication, cybersecurity, texting and even emojis. “We [are making] translatable videos,” Zhou says. “Because many people, like our grandparents, speak different languages.”
Mirella Janssen works with a resident at Stonecrest.
They spent the summer developing more programming and called and emailed local senior living communities to see if there was interest in having them host a few educational or “help desk” sessions—and there was. Last fall, SavvySeniors offered sessions at Stonecrest in Woodbury, Norris Square in Cottage Grove and Arbor Glen in Lake Elmo. “The first couple of times we went in, it was hard—we were trying to help build connections,” Kubicek says. “We played bingo with the residents a few times. And now that we’ve gone a bunch of times, we’ve really built a community. There are people who come down every Saturday morning to talk to us—even if they don’t have any technology questions.”
Robert Wiese, a Stonecrest resident, has been an ambassador for the SavvySeniors team. He keeps a schedule of its visits and reminds neighbors to come with their questions. “I could give you a long list of people who rave about their demeanor as they help them,” Wiese says. “One comment is, ‘We never feel like they are talking down to us.’”
Sydney Larson, the life enrichment director at Stonecrest, echoes that sentiment. “It is wonderful to see the dedication of these students in giving their time to help the residents of Stonecrest expand their knowledge of technology. On weekends, these students voluntarily contribute their time to empower the community with essential skills. We are extremely grateful for their care and knowledge,” Larson says.
Each of the SavvySeniors founders brings her own skills and strengths to the organization. Zhou is the technology maven, and she has a deep knowledge of programming. She built the team’s website and is passionate about designing educational materials. Janssen is an expert communicator and enjoys speaking with each resident. And Kubicek, who hopes to pursue engineering, loves to understand how things work—and how to help others understand, too. Going forward, although SavvySeniors isn’t officially affiliated with ERHS, the team hopes to keep local senior tech education going even as they move on to college. “Our goal is to get more students to come in and to provide more technology education, using our presentations and techniques now that we’ve graduated,” Kubicek says.
One thing they agree on is how enjoyable it is to meet with their clients—now friends—and make conversation while they teach about tech. “We really go with the flow,” Janssen says. “People typically have very specific questions for us. So some days we help people fix their printers. Other days we’re helping people with Candy Crush. It’s really random little things, but we really enjoy doing all of it.” They’ve helped people connect their hearing aids to their smartphones, create emergency contacts, set up iPhone basics and more. Zhou even loves to get into deeper, more philosophical discussions with her seniors—like when they want to talk about the rise of artificial intelligence.
Mirella Janssen, Emily Zhou and Eliza Kubicek with Robert Wiese, a Stonecrest resident who acts as an ambassador for SavvySeniors.
“I think our main goal is to try to help them not just understand how to use specific buttons to get this specific thing to happen but to really understand how their phone works,” Kubicek says. “So even when we’re not there, they can use the principles we’ve taught them to figure it out themselves. We want them to get to a point where it’s intuitive.”
The SavvySeniors group notices a trend in technology that’s further alienating older users: a dearth of traditional manuals. “They feel like there’s nothing they can reference when they have questions,” Zhou says. “They’re afraid to get on the internet and tap around because they’re afraid of some cybersecurity risks. So we want to help them be cautious online but also give them the right tools.”
In addition to the regular sessions at Stonecrest, Norris Square and Arbor Glen, the SavvySeniors team has hosted a booth at Woodbury Days to raise awareness of the program and wants to continue finding new avenues for outreach. Zhou dreams of building out its website with even more virtual lessons, downloadable brochures and other resources that seniors can access from anywhere in the world.
That, of course, is the grand promise of technology: to connect people from all over the globe to their friends and loved ones. “One of the first times we went to Arbor Glen, I met with a woman who had a flip phone,” Kubicek says. “She couldn’t get it to take calls or make calls, so she had no communication with the outside world. We were troubleshooting and problem solving, and, eventually, I figured out how to reset her phone. By the end of us working together, she was able to get those connections with her family and her far-away friends again.”
“I’m just very proud of us and what we’ve been able to do,” Zhou says.
Wiese sees hope for the future in SavvySeniors. “I could not think of three more competent ladies to help us,” he says. “They are a tribute to our young people today. We are in good hands in the future if these ladies are in it.”
To learn more about SavvySeniors and find its technology education resources, visit emzhou16.github.io.
