Hey it’s Hallie! I came early on Friday to find Team Top Chef cooking up their concoctions downstairs in the kitchen (which turned out to be yummy burrito-tacos) and a circle of coaches and some 1st and 2nd years trying to decipher Alice’s riddle.
“SuzypassesthedisctoBob,whothrowsittoJoe,whoeatsitandpoopsitoutandgivesitMarywhothrows-itintheairandbirdcatchesit. Who has it?”
“I do.” Most people figured it out, and some were told, but Calise was chronically stumped throughout our session on AGEISM.
Lani and Kathy led us in a stand-up exercise (we stood up when a statement applied to us) and some awesome discussions about how we see and feel ageism in our lives. We came up with examples such as between youth in school, towards the elderly, or adults not giving youth enough trust or independence. My multi-age group of four focused most on the latter. We thought that some adults don’t believe youth are capable of things that AGE-UP is proving we are and that people should always be given a chance to prove their maturity before they are judged. In a way all the 2nd years are already taking steps against ageism without knowing it!
After we had shared experiences and gotten ideas out there, each group wrote a rap about how we can stand up to ageism and performed it. There were some recurring themes, creative rhyming lyrics, and lots of laughs.
Feeling “inspired,” “aware,” and “informed” (according to a one word check-out), we braved the cold run to Mercer so that we could play our favorite sport: Ultimate! We practiced a perfect mark, perfected our throws, and played some mini. Too soon we had to walk back and let our warm legs get numb again, but we ended on a sweet note with some donuts and pastries.