Tech Tuesdays a success for Turners Falls seniors
Published: 01-07-2025 5:49 PM
Modified: 01-07-2025 8:44 PM |
TURNERS FALLS — Franklin County Technical School students and local senior citizens celebrated their “Tech Tuesday” partnership on Tuesday, marking the first year of tech support that will continue into 2026 thanks to additional grant funding.
Tech Tuesday is a collaboration between the Gill-Montague Senior Center and Franklin Tech. Students in grades 10 through 12 who are enrolled in the Programming and Web Development Program offer free drop-in tech support on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2 p.m. for senior citizens. Students receive credit for their assistance, and seniors leave with expanded digital literacy skills — something both seniors and students spoke about enthusiastically at Tuesday’s celebration.
Karol Bradford of Turners Falls said she had been attending exercise programs at the Senior Center when she decided to stop in for a drop-in tech help session in the fall to see if someone could help her with a phone issue. For many years, she worked with computers as a bank employee.
“Unfortunately, I’ve lost a lot of my knowledge over the years because there have been so many changes,” Bradford said while giving praise to the students who helped her.
“A lot of these guys have been great. I’ve dealt with several of them. They’re all really knowledgeable and very patient,” Bradford said.
Tech Tuesday is a collaborative effort between the town of Montague, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and the Montague Mass in Motion Committee, along with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
At the start of Tuesday’s celebration, Montague Mass in Motion Coordinator Colleen Doherty said that Town Planner Maureen Pollock and Montague Council on Aging Director Roberta Potter were able to secure $22,000 in grant funding for increasing digital equity among seniors, which included money for the drop-in tech support. FRCOG also provides funding for this program, in addition to the grant, Doherty explained. An additional $26,110 grant came from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative that will fund the program into 2026.
The $22,000 grant paid for 151 appointments in 2024 for smartphone, computer and other device help, according to Doherty. She said those who are seeking assistance range in age from 60 to 90, and many are repeat attendees of the tech support sessions.
Article continues after...
Yesterday's Most Read Articles






As part of the celebration, students and seniors played a Stump-the-Student question game where a senior asks a tech question that a student answers, all while students and seniors had the opportunity to share what they learned from Tech Tuesday.
“This is, without a doubt, one of the best experiences I have ever gone through,” Franklin Tech senior Dakota Santos shared with the group. In one instance, Santos said he was able to help a Tech Tuesday visitor with a laptop issue that a local tech support store could not. “I was really glad to know that I could do something even … the best professionals were not able to do or wanted to.”
While the students take the lead in the drop-in hours, Franklin Tech instructors Marcus McLaurin and Cynthia Bussey offer help where they can. From their perspective, they’ve seen the impact the service has had for senior citizens over the past year, as well as for students.
“They recount some of the stories and we might talk about a particular thing,” Bussey said about the students at Tech Tuesday. “It is definitely something that comes back to our shop and I know it also sticks in their minds for future careers.”
For those interested in Tech Tuesday, visit the Gill-Montague Senior Center at 62 Fifth St. on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 2 p.m. No advance registration is needed. A calendar of Senior Center programs can be found at gillmontaguecouncilonaging.org/calendar.
Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.