| On April 28, 2011, youth across the country will have an opportunity at your workplace to “Invent The Future.” As you plan the Day, create or modify activities that engage them in constructing the road ahead. This can take shape in many forms, such as an open discussion, role playing, or actual workshops that fuse your business and the theme.
Invent The Future
The following talking points will help you facilitate a discussion that can also be a visual art activity. The goal is to introduce youth to the concept that what we do in our lives has an impact on future events.
What will life be like tomorrow? In 5 years? 15 years? 25 years?
What about the environment? Is climate change being addressed? Are people respecting the planet and conserving where they can? What do you think caused this shift?
What are people like? What new careers will they have? How will they get to work?
If you had control, what would the future be like?
What steps are being taken now to create a safer and stronger world? (i.e., use of energy, state of social security, economy, health, and obesity). Implement an exercise on current events/national trends and how these events will shape the future.
Invent The Future Workplace
Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day is as much about youth learning the various functions, mechanics, and jobs within a workplace as it is about them discovering their place in the world.
Explore the future role of jobs and how they are changing, and how each department is responding to the changes (i.e. advertising, human resources, and office management). What new tools are employees using, and what tools would be helpful that are not developed yet or could be enhanced?
Explore how the products and services produced are changing the way people do certain things in their daily lives - how do these ideas generate?
Explore innovation, leadership, and change management.
Explore the shift in business models (i.e. social entrepreneurship).
Invent The Future Me This Day is the first of many steps youth will take toward building their future. At your workplace, they are exposed to a variety of jobs, people, ideas, systems, and equipment that initiates or expands their thoughts on what they want to be, what they would like to study in school, how and where they want to live, and how to manage family life and community responsibilities. This is the first of many steps where they begin to think about their life as a whole.
Have youth create a Road Ahead Map, charting a course to obtain a degree, trade, position in the workplace (traditional or nontraditional) or developing a product to demonstrate that, starting a family or building a business takes planning.
Allow them to discover their interests through sponsored workshops and activities. Even if they are not interested in doing a specific job you are presenting try and bring them into the conversation and point out general next steps.
Imagine what their future is - actually create it doing a visual activity (i.e., art).
Experiment with different jobs. We often wear many hats at work. Let them try one on for size in a role play activity.
Conduct a round robin activity or have them write a short statement: A day in my life now is ___________? A day in my future life would be ___________?
Have girls and boys create a product. You may discover several youth with an interest in being an inventor. In present day, what does that mean or what are the new words that people in that role identify with. Whether they want to concoct the next big product or idea or simply want to start thinking about what they want in their future (i.e. job, family, community involvement), it should be an activity that encourages creativity and outside-the-box thinking.
However you decide to structure the day, youth, parents, mentors, volunteers, staff, your employer and all others involved will appreciate the time, effort, and lasting impression you have put into Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work ®Day 2011.
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