Arizona Education Association - Retired's IMPACT Intergenerational Mentoring Program

(PHOTO: John Miller) Elizabeth Gonzales (right) say mentor
Juan Zúñiga guided her, but still let her find her own way.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week, we feature intergenerational program ideas that were tried and successful. This series is a tool to highlight various age-optimized programs and practices. The program descriptions are provided by representatives of the programs. Inclusion in this series does not imply Generations United’s endorsement or recommendation, but rather encourages ideas to inspire other programs.

This week’s cool idea is the Arizona Education Association- Retired’s IMPACT Intergenerational Mentoring Program, an intergenerational partnership that allows retired educators to mentor young teachers.

(Check our archives for parts 1-40.)

The intergenerational mentoring program is a collaborative project between the Arizona Education Association-Retired (AEA-Retired), and AEA-Student Program (AEA-SP) with the full support and cooperation of the National Education Association, the Arizona Education Association, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona.

Their mission is to establish and maintain an ongoing mentorship program between the AEA-Retired and the AEA-SP that will continue through the student-teaching experience and first five years of teaching.

As a result, the program has utilized the knowledge and experience of retired teachers in the development and training of future teachers by providing no-cost professional development sessions.

Beginning teachers are also able to share real challenges they face and their mentors help address those challenges.

Got something cool you tried that was successful? Why not tweet your cool intergenerational ideas to #cooligideas? You can also post them to our Intergenerational Connections Facebook Group. We want to highlight innovative age-optimized programs and practices through our blog, social media and weekly e-newsletter! Share the inspiration.