Correspondent photo / Maurita Hoffman Kayla Zoccole, activity director at Elmwood Assisted Living in Hubbard, holds the wheelchair of resident Paul Emery steady so he can toss his cornhole bag during a game.

HUBBARD — As a soccer player in college, Kayla Zoccole was not planning a career as an activities director at an assisted living facility.

But, seven years after graduating from Youngstown State University, Zoccole relishes her role with senior citizens. She grew up in Hubbard, graduated from Hubbard High School and received a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science from Youngstown State University. She said her studies focused on fitness and related subjects.

After graduation, Zoccole applied to Elmwood Assisted Living in Hubbard to work in the physical therapy department. Although she was not hired for that position, she was told there was a resident aide position open for midnight shift.

She accepted that position and worked as a resident aide for about 18 months before she became an activity aide in 2018. She said she was approached to be an activity aide because of her work with the residents on the floor.

“I have a loud personality,” Zoccole said, which she said got the attention of the activity director. In 2020, she became the director of activities at the 72-person assisted living facility and has enjoyed it ever since.

“I am lucky to have a great team on the job with me. There are six activity assistants who help with projects, trips and interactions with the residents,” she said.

The 14-person van is full when residents go on trips to local restaurants and stores. One of the more popular trips, according to Zoccole, is to the Hubbard Library, where the Reading Pals meet every Tuesday for a month in the summer.

“Families sign up to meet with the residents. We have reading, crafts and of course, food,” Zoccole said.

She noted it is a popular program and has resulted in families coming to Elmwood with the children to visit the residents.

The Intergenerational Reading Program is “a way to keep the residents and children connected throughout the year, not just in the summer.”

She said this is a “newish program,” working with the first graders from Hubbard Elementary School, who come to Elmwood to visit the residents.

Twenty-five residents participate in this program.

“One or two residents meet with a handful of kids at several tables, and the children talk about the stories they have read,” Zoccole said.

At one of the gatherings, “the children described in great detail a book to a blind resident, told her what colors everything in the book were. It is very satisfying and fun to see both the students and the residents’ reactions to meetings.”

She noted that parents of the children who participate in the library Reading Pal group also visit the assisted living residents and are “very on board.”

“They take a seat back and watch the process happening. Families are very pleased with the program,” Zoccole said.

She said she feels that the exposure to different generations is a bonus for both the senior citizens and the children. In addition to the reading programs, there is a summer gardening program at Elmwood.

“We get our hands dirty; families have signed up to be part of the gardening and both the generations learn from each other — and have a lot of fun working in the garden together,” Zoccole said. “It is a resident-led activity, it’s collaborative with the families, and we get to eat a lot of what they grow.”

She said her main emphasis is to see each resident at least once a day, and it is important that she is aware of what’s going on with each of them and seeing who needs some company.

She said there are activities geared to each resident, with some offered daily for those who don’t want to participate in much but love certain things.

“It’s a way to keep them involved,” she said.

Zoccole acknowledged that a difficult part of her job is “getting people to pause before whatever we are doing, and redirecting them to a positive outlook, that they can do something that they are at first not too sure about.”

She said assisted living is an opportunity for seniors to live and have a better quality of life.

“It’s building a community,” she said.

Zoccole lives in Hubbard with her cat, Chicken Nugget.