You’re never too old to learn.

Just ask Carbon County’s first PEER graduates at Heritage Hill Senior Community in Weatherly.

The four residents range in age from 92 to 95.

Last Tuesday, the personal care home held a brief graduation ceremony to honor the class for their accomplishment in successfully completing Pennsylvania’s Empowerment Expert Residents program.

Leona Titman, ombudsman, congratulated the graduating class, consisting of Dorothy Denke, Elizabeth Shultz, Helen Dziak and John Collings, for going through the five-session program to learn about roles within the facility, self-resolution skills, respect of others, residents’ rights and not being a bully, confidentiality and more.

“They worked very hard,” Titman said before presenting the graduates with their certificates.

PEERs aims to empower residents and give them the knowledge and training to help their fellow residents by being advocates and help the Office of State Long-Term Care Ombudsman on the issues affecting all of Pennsylvania’s long-term care residents.

Collings, who is 93 years old, said he did this because he thought being a PEER would be rewarding.

“It’s about being able to help another person,” he said.

Ninety-five-year-old Dziak and 92-year-old Denke joined for similar reasons.

Schultz, who is 95, credits her career as a teacher for her desire to continue learning, no matter how old she is.

Titman said that Heritage Hill has gotten the ball rolling and a second PEER group class is forming at another senior community.

Susan Zeigler, administrator of the Carbon County Area Agency on Aging, said seeing Heritage Hill create a PEER group was amazing for the county.

“The motto of this program is to advocate for those who cannot advocate for themselves and I just think it’s wonderful (because) who is a better advocate than another resident who is going through this stuff,” Zeigler said.

She noted that PEER groups across the state have helped in admissions process improvements, complaint resolutions and even funeral planning.

“When you think about it, this is their family,” she said. “I’m excited to see where they go. It’s all about them.”