Last month, my dear friend, Anne Feist, chapter leader of Boulder Valley Spellbinders ® (www.Spellbinders.org) contacted me and “asked” if my wife and I could attend a session of Generation Exchange on a Saturday morning, where CU Boulder students help older folks, through one-on-one coaching, solve problems they might be having with these weird new devices called laptops, tablets, smart phones, etc..
I am a volunteer at Spellbinders where we older adults tell (not read) stories, fables, legends, myths to BVSD elementary school youngsters. I love the experience of reconnecting with the wee ones through the oral tradition of storytelling and find both generations benefit equally. So, when we realized the event was FREE, that Generation Exchange serves endless cups of coffee to old truck drivers, and a large breakfast burrito, we agreed to experiment with learning to communicate with yet another generation about a subject that we find intimidating.
Not only did we enjoy the intergenerational connection with our mentor Nina Kentwortz who is majoring in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing but we discovered she loves working in a teaching environment, sews her own clothes and is a fashion photographer in her free time. The very patient Nina, solved an online data entry dilemma that we had been wrestling with for weeks, so now we are confident in our ability to report our volunteer time to the non-profit Spellbinders ®. Nina had a great time volunteering with us (Gary and Carol Cox) and learned a lot from both of them – so it was an amazing win-win for everyone and Generation Exchange.
To learn more about the monthly Generation Exchange workshops at 1301 Walnut Street in Boulder (the next one is December 8th) contact generationexchange.org/events or call 510-673-0079 and visit generationexchange.org.
Image Credit: generationexchange.org