GENERATIONAL  LEARNING  EVENING Sponsored by the

AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  OF  UNIVERSITY  WOMEN FREMONT,  CA

Back to Welcome Page Generational Savvy By Shirley Gilbert   Locate your pointer in the middle of the picture.  Click to enlarge it. Use the web page back button to return the picture to its normal size. Elaine Wong Eakin presents the list of four generations.       About 40 AAUW members sat spellbound as they learned about the four generations of adults who are for the first time in history living side by side in our country and what it all meant for employers, parents, teachers – and even AAUW members.       This was part of an educational and entertaining evening that took place Monday, October 18 at the Fremont unified District Teachers’ Association office in Fremont.       Fremont Branch member Jeanne Delp, who initiated the idea and, with a band of helpers, beautifully orchestrated the get-together, opened the dialogue about the generational divides.  “I thought this might be a good thing to understand” said Jeanne, “because this type of information will help us change in AAUW and I think we need to change and welcome a greater variety of generations into our organization.” Act I:  What are the four generations?         Elaine Wong Eakin, an AAUW member and Executive Director of California Health Advocates, opened her presentation with a short online video that showed the rapid and exponential growth of population and technology in our world today.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U).       She then described, in a slide-based presentation, the lifetime events, attributes, working styles and heroes of the four generations.  Elaine went on to say that it was critical that she and her colleagues learn about them since the first of the Baby Boomers turn 65 next year and her organization works for the Center for Medicare and Medicare Services.  She wanted to know what makes Baby Boomers tick so she and her colleagues could do a better job of responding to that generation when they join the ranks of Medicare in great numbers.       The four generations she talked about are:  the Veterans (1922-1945), the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1978) and Generation Y (1978-1994).  Elaine pointed out, for the teachers in the room, that there is, of course, a Generation Z (1991-2004) that educators deal with every day.  However, this generation is still very young and not as much is known of them as the four adult groups.       She was also quick to point out that the traits, ethics, values, etc. of the four generations are generalities and that we may individually not see ourselves in all of them or even any of them. Act II:  What do you think of these values as it applies to you?   The different generational groups are given time to discuss their own values and how they relate to the ones presented.   Standing at right is Amna Jaffer who led Act II of the generational learning evening.       Fremont branch member Amna Jaffer then asked the attendees to go to tables to dialog with members of their own generations.   Amna teaches Academic, Career and Personal Exploration to undergraduate students at San Jose State University and believes that knowledge of the four generations is important to her job and should be part of the toolbox of all educators.       She asked AAUW members and guests to talk about the attributes and values of their generation and see if they seemed to apply to them individually and personally.  It will come as no surprise to learn that most AAUW members are, for the most part, either in the Veterans or Baby Boomer category.  It’s also interesting to note that most of the generations felt they had traits that went across the generations. Act III:  Learning about the Hottest Technology         Jeanne, in this final act, announced the establishment of several stations and curious and fascinated attendees found out and sampled some of the most up-to-date technologies used by young people today.   Here are the stations, their stationmasters and the kind of technology they touted. Tanaya Davis, an East Bay Hayward student, a neighbor of Genevieve Angelides and an AAUW Student Affiliate, brought a bucketful of high tech gadgets that keep her going at school.  Two computers, several iPods (one about one inch square she puts on her lapel when running), and an iPhone just to name a few. Kayla Strand, an eighth grader at Newark Memorial and a Tech Trek student in 2010, brought her underwater camera and took a slew of pictures of members and guests. Synclaire Hamilton and her sister Valencia, students at Washington High School and a neighbor of Jeanne’s, brought the older and newer versions of cell phones, iPods, a laptop and the latest breed of high-tech calculators. Ritwika Mitra, in 10th grade and being home schooled, brought her laptop to demonstrate YouTube applications and a tutorial she put together herself that appears on that website. Mary Fuchs, AAUW member came with a Kindle ebook. Kris Sandoe, AAUW member, demonstrated our branch, California and national websites. Jonathan Sandoe showed off an OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), a laptop designed for children in developing countries. Bob Delp, Jeanne’s husband, showed a PBS clip showing the historical events and culture of our age.       What added to the enjoyment of the evening were the great snacks prepared by Jeanne’s team to nourish attendees throughout.  At the end of the learning event all agreed that it was, indeed, an evening to cherish, remember and explore new ideas. Take a look at the pictures and learn even more!   Back to Welcome Page