The creators of Old School's Let's Dismantle Ageism workshop take you through it in this 32-minute video 

Below are all the links you need to present your own workshop. This one-hour workshop is designed to raise awareness of what ageism is, how it appears in our lives, and what each of us can do to dismantle it. It can be done in an office over a lunch hour, at a community center or library, in schools and clubs, etc. The workshop is universal, meaning it is applicable to people of all ages and in all walks of life.

An Old School Workshop Let's Dismantle Ageism Created by:  Mel Coppola, Ryan Backer & Kyrié Carpenter

Everything you need to host your own one hour workshop

Let's Dismantle Ageism

A self-proclaimed “emerging Elder”, Mel’s passion for the past eleven plus years has been to elevate the status of Elderhood in our society.  One of the ways she does this is by raising awareness of ageism and ableism.

During her years as a care partner for several family members, including her mom—a fabulous, strong-willed woman who lived with mental illness—Mel experienced first-hand how people were often treated differently due to the stigma of age or mental health.  She didn’t understand just how wrong this was due to her own internalized ageism and ableism. It was through her work in home care that Mel became exposed to an organization with a different outlook on aging and support for people of all ages and abilities—The Eden Alternative.  They helped her to understand the stigma and “othering” that happens when people are seen as a stereotype rather than a unique individual. She soon became a Certified Educator and Mentor with The Eden Alternative and currently facilitates several of their offerings, both in person and online.  Sharing and teaching this philosophy, which includes dismantling ageism and ableism, has become her life’s work. 

Mel works with organizations along the spectrum of aging care services to help transform their culture of care from a medical/institutional model to a more person-directed approach.  She has presented at national and international aging conferences, on local radio shows, and in webinars; she has written articles, blogs and workshops. Mel earned a Certificate in Gerontology through St. Pete College.  It doesn’t matter the audience, the message Mel brings is that growing old is not a medical condition—it’s a natural part of life. 

If Mel’s passion for ending ageism and ableism speaks to you, let her develop something for your conference or organization.  Some of Mel’s Ageism-focused presentations include:
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Rocking Aging, Not Rocking Chairs</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Ageism: Recognizing and Destroying the Weed Sabotaging Your Culture Change Journey</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">I work in the Field of Aging, So of Course I’m Not Ageist! (Am I?)</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">The Stigma of Being Other: Exploring the Prejudices of Aging and Care</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">From Awareness to Advocacy: From Ageism to Age Pride</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Well-Being is a Rainbow Flag: Putting Well-Being Back into the Lives of LGBT Elders</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Aging Intentionally:  How Words Can Change Our Perceptions</li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;">Aging With Purpose</li>
</ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;">Let's Dismantle Ageism</li>
</ul>

Educator & skilled facilitator; Certified Educator with the Eden Alternative, an expert in person-centered care.

Mel Coppola

Trained as a therapist, Kyrié is a teacher and public speaker, specializing in ageism and dementia. She co-founded the anti-ageism clearinghouse OldSchool.info with Ashton Applewhite and Ryan Backer, is an educator with The Eden Alternative, author of Healing Dementia, and adjunct faculty at USI and Pacifica Graduate Institute. She loves to travel, was a cast member on Dr. Bill Thomas' nationwide ChangingAging Tour, and has been living part-time in a campervan with her family since 2015.

Millennial planting seeds for personal & cultural growth through teaching & speaking.

Kyrié Carpenter

Ryan Backer is an age activist striving to undo ageism within an intersectional framework. They have been on this social justice path since 2013 and are a co-creator of Old School. They've facilitated workshops on undoing ageism and queering age in NYC, Philadelphia, Louisville, Germany, Ireland, and Canada. You can learn more about their anti-ageism workshop 'Age Queer' in their zine linked below, as well as their collaborative workshop called "Let's Dismantle Ageism!".

Ryan aims to eradicate ageism, along with white supremacy, gender bias, ableism, body shaming, homophobia, classism and all other forms of oppression. They've worked as an in-home care partner, as well as interned at the Edie Windsor SAGE Center, the NYC Elder Abuse Center, and Brooklyn Pride Center's ElderPRIDE. When they are not presenting workshops or working on Old School they are organizing intergenerational events and groups, creating zines, and writing articles for ChangingAging. 

Ryan identifies as a white, non-binary, European-American ‘old person in training’ with an undergraduate degree in Gerontology. 

Photo Credit: Kinga Michalska

Age activist striving to undo ageism within an intersectional framework.

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About this resource:	The creators of Old School's Let's Dismantle Ageism workshop take you through it in this 32-minute video
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Mel Coppola

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