Aging Into Wisdom

2023-2024
10-month Seminar

SNO is again offering a 10-month, seminar style course for Seasoned Interpreters, which meets monthly for 3½ hours via Zoom. Group size will be limited to 12.

In this course, we look deeply into our own lives to identify those life events which have informed who we are as people and as professionals in this field, with focus in three areas: General/Personal, Professional, and Power-Privilege-Oppression. Will you join us?

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About Bonnie Kraft

About the Instructor

My name is Bonnie Kraft, and I am one of the co-founders of Seasoned, Not Old Interpreters (SNO), which provides personal and professional enrichment experiences for ASL Interpreters over age 40 with at least 10 years of interpreting behind them. Our focus at SNO is primarily on the elder practitioner community, and co-hosting SNO conferences several times now has steadily reinforced that focus for me. (If you are not yet 40, and do not have 10+ years experience, I apologize. This is not yet your time.)

As I have gotten older, I have seen a need for the elders in our Interpreting Community to come together to further our journey to becoming Wise Ones. I re-tooled a previous course with a focus on our experience as Interpreters, and have gotten approval from RID for 3.9 CEUs, which will be awarded in three parts; (1.2 each for GS and PS, and 1.5 for PPO). The first year of this course saw three groups of colleagues come together for monthly study and sharing, and it was a great success (comments from their evaluations below).

About the Course ~ What is Aging Into Wisdom?

About the Course

About the Course ~ Policies and Considerations

Dates (listed below) for the course have been set, now slated to begin in September of 2023 and run through to the following June, 2024. Each month, our meeting is live and because it is of a personal nature, it will not be recorded for sharing, but may be recorded for teaching purposes and not shared with others. There is one extra month listed (July, 2024) in case we need a make-up for some reason.

Part of building true Community is being there, so attendance is very important. Even with that, life happens, and because of CEU requirements, we have a back-up plan: Each of the three units (GS, PS, PPO) lasts for 3-4 months. In order to qualify for that unit’s CEUs, one absence per unit is acceptable, and will require a written/video assignment be completed before the next meeting. I will be working closely with our local MassRID CEU administrator to be sure everything is done according to RID standards and requirements. We also have an extra month scheduled (July, 2024) in case of a class cancellation.

MassRID is an approved RID CMP sponsor for Continuing Education Activities. This seminar is offered at 3.9 CEUs (1.2 each for GS and PS, and 1.5 for PPO) at the Some-Advanced Content Level.

The price for this seminar is $450, and must be paid in full before the first class meeting, but register by August 15, 2023 and save $25 - see the session information for the applicable code.

While the course is divided into three separate units (for CEU purposes, and each unit will have its own Certificate of Completion), it is one course, with one price. Because it is designed to flow a certain way, it is not possible to sign up for only one of the three units separately, nor is it possible to skip an earlier unit and join in partway through the year. There is no extra fee for CEUs.

We understand that things happen and there may be something that keeps you from starting or completing the course. Refunds will be issued until 2 weeks before the start date of the whole course, minus a $25 processing fee. Cancellations with less than two weeks notice will receive a 50% refund. Cancellation with less than one week notice will receive a 25% refund. Because it is one course with very limited registration, refunds cannot be given once the course has begun.

Presenters, coordinators, and participants of this educational opportunity agree to promote an environment of mutual respect, free from bias and discrimination. Please note, this statement does not preclude “difficult conversations,” and aims to create an environment where learning and honest dialogue can happen ~ in an atmosphere of mutual respect, willingness to discuss, honesty, and openness.

You will need to have a reasonably private space with a fast and reliable enough internet connection to have live video/audio access for the full 3½ hours.

We use Zoom to conduct our class meetings and you will need a (free) Zoom account to participate. While a larger monitor is recommended, it isn’t required. Please follow the steps in our How-to Zoom guide to make sure you're ready to go when classes start.

This course is designed for true sharing from deep and sometimes painful places, and a willingness to sit through any discomfort with this level of group vulnerability is necessary to the journey. It may be you’d rather be in a room of strangers for this, and it may be that you’d rather be in a group of familiar faces. This group is designed specifically for seasoned, certified, RID Interpreters; you could very well know at least one of the others in the group. If you are uncomfortable with that, but still want to be pushed to stretch in that way, this may be a good fit for you.

Note: This is absolutely not therapy, nor is it a replacement for therapy in any way.

I fully expect that participants will take a course such as this very seriously.

Yes, life absolutely gets in the way sometimes, and nobody knows that more than we do. Still, the expectation is that participants will be on time and truly present, respect each other's stories and whatever limited time allotment we have for each activity. There are some parts of this course that will be fairly rigidly timed/structured and other parts, which will be very fluid. I ask that you be open to whatever comes. I will be open to you as well, and I will never set you up to fail.

I expect the work to be done with great thought and consideration. I expect that each of us will have time to cry and laugh and wonder during the course of these ten months. I expect that the journey will be full of personal growth and development, and a growing sense of sovereignty that is deeply grounded and centered within a place of Wisdom.

I expect that whatever is said in group stays there. While it is fine to discuss new concepts that you may have learned, it is obviously not okay to share the source if it is a group member. Quoting something that we have read is a very different story, and sharing of literature is happily encouraged.

I expect inquiries from any of us to get a response, and expect conversation to be honest and respectful, kind and blunt, softened and thoughtful, challenging and reflective.

I expect this to be a deep experience, which could sometimes feel uncomfortable.
I ask each of us to sit with and through the discomfort, because there’s always the other side. Always.

Feel free to email me with any questions you have.
Bonnie
Bonnie.Kraft@SeasonedNotOld.com

What if a group is full?

We are running several groups this year. If the one you're interested in is full, please check if another section works for you, and if not, send us an email (to Registration@SeasonedNotOld.com) requesting that we add you to the waitlist for that group. Please make sure you include the grouping (for example, ASL/Women) and the meeting day/time (for instance, 3rd Wednesday, 6-930p) We will reply to let you know that we got your request and how many others are already on the waitlist. We will notify you via email as soon as a slot opens - please respond within 1 day so we know you will participate or so we can notify the next person there's an available slot.

Quotable

Some Quotes From Prior Year Evaluations

"Fully engaging, a wonderful space to discuss tough issues and the influence of aging on our profession"
"The conversations, friendship, and perspectives shared are amazing."
"She was a great leader and organized this workshop with perfection"
"I appreciate all of your hard work to make this happen. I loved the stories and additional information."
"I am so grateful for the incredible amount of work you invest in our profession, and that you have invested in me in the last year. Thank you."
"Thank you for creating such a safe and inviting space for lively discussion"
"She provided a safe, welcoming space to share experiences without feeling pressure or judgment."
"I thank her for her warmth, her thoughtfulness and her sharing of herself during this workshop. It set the parameters for the entire workshop"
"Great Leader. Good readings. Bonnie kept a good structure to each class and allowed it to be flexible to the needs of the participants. Delicate Balance"

Bibliography

Click here to see the full bibliography.

Bibliography

Class Structure

Here are some more details of what you would be committing to and what you can expect (please click on each tab):

There are four required books:

hooks, bell: Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom
Kendi, Ibram X: How to be an Antiracist
Pipher, Mary: Women Rowing North (this book should be at least halfway finished by the time the course starts)
Kidder, Rushworth: How Good People Make Tough Choices

Beyond that, I will provide you with different snippets of readings for each month, with an average of 15-20 pages per month. Discussion will focus on the readings for that month.

We will take turns (1 person/month, BK will start) introducing one recipe from your childhood. If you can have some there to show us (even if only a photo), all the better. Tell us which Ancestor made it, some family lore about it, what it reminds you of, how it makes you feel, why you chose it. Maybe it is something that comes from your Ancestral line, maybe it is something a childhood friend's mother taught you to make, maybe it is something your neighbor made for you when you weren't feeling well or when there was a celebration of some sort. Maybe it's a dish you've learned to perfect on your own, or one your mother-in-law taught you from her own line. One of us will have time to share the story of our contribution each month. It does not have to be a particularly exciting story; this is our time to be in Community with each other and sharing food stories is both a wonderful inroad and a wonderful addition to that. TIME: 5 minutes per person

Bonnie will lead a short (~15 min) guided meditation in ASL each month, inspired by that month’s topic. Discussion will always bring us from personal to professional and back to personal again. How does this inform our work? How is our way of working influenced by our personal experience? The “Meditation of the Month” will be described first before we begin, but the structure will be the same month to month, designed for the beginner, and easy to follow.

Each participant should choose one article of clothing (for example, I chose a cotton scarf), dedicated only to this course and course-related activity, in which the energy of Wise One Wisdom will build over the months together. Suggested main colors are deep, dark colors. These are Wisdom colors. After the course is over, this item will be full of the course energy and available for you to use as you see fit.

Class Groups

This year we are offering five groups, three for women and two for all genders. All groups meet monthly.

The all women groups are:

ASL meeting 3rd Wednesday, 6-930p

ASL Deaf-Parented meeting 2nd Saturday, 130-5p

Spoken English meeting 2nd Saturday, 6-930p

The all genders groups are:

ASL meeting 2nd Wednesday, 6-930p

Spoken English meeting 3rd Sunday, 130-5p

For the specific meetings dates, availability, and registration, select the gender grouping then the communication mode.

2023-2024 Groups and Meeting Dates

* To register, you must log in to our website (click Log In to the right of the menu at the top of the page) or sign up for free membership (click Log In then click Sign Up - you will need access to your email to confirm the address - this helps protect us from spam and you from potential identity theft 8~)

The clock is counting down on the time left to
save some $$ by using the
early bird discount for

Aging Into Wisdom ~ 2023-2024

Use the specific group code below for $25 off now!