Eldering versus Skills Dump

July 26, 2025

talking science!

SYEP (Seattle Youth Employment Program) is a City of Seattle program that offers qualified youth, ages 16-24, summer employment. The goal is to increase young adults ability to pursue careers that are meaningful to them. The youth that apply are from communities that experience racial, social, and economic disparities.

practicing the half-hitch

When I applied to offer in internship, on behalf of FECO, I reviewed the offerings of other hosts. Many organizations were large, such as Swedish Hospital and the Urban League! The majority of jobs focused on using computers. I threw my hat in the ring and gambled that someone might be interested in gardening/landscaping/fruit tree management. Someone who enjoyed being in nature, making observations, in a fairly calm setting.

Hurrah! Ramatou took the bait. Ramatou started their SYEP internship July 10 and will work through August 26. They started out with a Tuesday/Thursday schedule, three hours per day. Being very pleased with their involvement at the orchard, they asked for more hours so we added Fridays plus any Saturdays during a regular work party.

When asked what the highlight of her weekend was, Ramatou replied, “The Saturday FECO work party.” The liking goes both ways. Ramatou is very alert, asks questions, shows up early, catches on quickly, and is a pleasant person to work with.

taking soil samples

What was my point in adding this experience to my already busy schedule? Being older, I was eager toshare what I had learned over many years. I want to transition to ‘elder in training’.

However, since I am fairly productive, my tendency would be to blast out a skills dump on this 16-year-old: … more leverage using… first-year wood versus… the hypotenuse would be… whole posterior chain… bamboo is a grass … the branch should be one/third… soak the seeds…

thinning the pacific ninebark

A skills dump is not eldering. The challenge for me is to pause, and then pause, and ask Ramatou what they see, what ideas do they have, and to pay attention to what they are experiencing. My aim is to offer skills development but also to allow Ramatou to explore the development of curiosity, patience and other life essentials. If we can teach and listen, younger people can create new and better solutions!

Today, in fact, we were breaking up chunks of compost by rubbing the compost between our hands. After a few minutes Ramatou switched to smashing the compost against the side of the wheelbarrow. “Oh!”, I declared, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

Ruth

I want to thank Nancy for supporting me up in this endeavor! I could not have offered to host a SYEP intern this summer without a backup.