UW-Eau Claire will be featuring its first ever Grandparents University this summer.

At Grandparents University, grandchildren eight to 12 years old are given an opportunity to attend college for a day with a grandparent or any older adult. The hopes are that not only will the grandchildren involved learn a few things while attending, but that they also receive valuable bonding time with someone who is important in their life.

Jeanie Geurink, assistant professor of communication and journalism, has fought for two years to bring the event to Eau Claire and is very excited about the possibilities.

The Idea
A former professor at UW-Madison, Geurink adopted the idea from the university where she attended the event five times.

Although it is unsure how many Grandparent Universities exist on campuses around the country, many have spawned off Madison’s initial idea of the event.

Around the area, similar events have been started at UW-Green Bay, UW-Parkside and Michigan State University. Likewise, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas at Austin have sprouted their own version of the event.

“It’s people like me who have attended and live in other areas (that help it spread),” Geurink said. “Then they want to bring it back home.”

After having such a great experience with her grandchildren at Madison’s version of the event, Geurink knew she needed to bring something like this to Eau Claire.

Two years of fighting to bring it ensued before she was finally able to get help from other people on campus. Geurink said that although she has worked very hard for everything, that most of the credit must be given to Phil Huelsbeck in the Continuing Education department.

“I brought the idea, Phil made the wheel turn,” Geurink said. “He went to the administration, he went to the colleges of arts and sciences, he went to the dean and he had to make sure that his own department could fit it into their budget and very busy schedule.”

Day’s Schedule
At Madison the event takes place for a day and a half while grandchildren are given the opportunity to stay in the dorms for a night. However, because it is the first year in Eau Claire, and because of a lack of air conditioning, it will just be a day long event here.

Grandparents University will begin at 8:45 a.m. and will run until 4 p.m.

A welcome event and a light snack will start the day so all of the attendees can get a chance to see each other, according to the Grandparents University pamphlet.

From there everyone heads to the opening keynote class, which will last for an hour and 45 minutes. Erik Hendrickson, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will be teaching it. Hendrickson’s class, titled ‘Amazing Science Demonstrations Using Pressure,’ will feature several demonstrations that are especially appealing to students, Geurink said.

“He blows things up and walks on nails, he’s a real hit,” Geurink said. “We wanted something that when they come in they will really remember.”

From there the students will head to the first elective class of the day, where they have the choice between three morning classes.

After morning class everyone will head to lunch and the entire university will unite again. Following lunch, the second elective class will occur, as afternoon class begins. Three choices will be offered to everyone for this portion as well.

Next, the students will head towards the closing keynote class that everyone will come together to attend as a whole again.

Finally, at the end of the day, is graduation for all who attended Grandparents University.

“We actually have graduation certificates,” Geurink said. “(We) shake their hands and we have recorded music for the graduation ceremony.”

Classes
The first step in deciding the classes that would be offered was finding professors that would be interested in the event. Surprisingly to Geurink and Huelsbeck, a large number of professors showed interest.

“A couple dozen came forward . so he (Huelsbeck) had to select and turn down many of the options,” Geurink said.

In fact, there was so much interest, Geurink said, that many of the professors who were turned down asked to be kept in mind for future years.

The three morning classes will feature a wide variety of curriculum to appeal to anyone who would want to attend, Geurink said.

‘Backyard Star Gazers,’ with Nathan Miller is one of the options. The class will explain how to track the motions of the moon, stars and planets in our night sky, according to the event pamphlet.

Marc Mc Ellistrem will be offering a class titled ‘Think Small: Nanoscience.’ The class will feature information about the study of materials that are incredibly small, the pamphlet stated.

The final morning class option is titled ‘Native American Skills & Craft,” with Jill Smith of the Department of Geography and Anthropology. According the pamphlet, Smith will teach students about how Native Americans existed prior to having all the technological advancements of today.

For the three afternoon classes, a nice variety of material was a main goal again.

Arlyn Anderson of the Department of Communication and Journalism will be offering a class titled ‘Ancient Origins of the Alphabet.’ Anderson said he is very excited take part in the first Grandparents University.

“I had participated in an outreach program last year that was a somewhat similar thing,” Anderson said. “It was enjoyable and a pleasant way for me to share some things that I think are interesting and important to know.”

While deciding on his material, Anderson thought of what are interesting to his friends.

“I thought it would be something that would be able to cross generations,” Anderson said. “I wanted something that the younger kids would find interesting and that the older people who do same, even though it will be at a different level.”

The other afternoon classes to choose from are ‘Backyard Bug Safari’ with Kelly Murray in the Department of Biology and ‘Shakespeare Alive!’ with Dr. Theresa Kemp.

The Details
The event is going to be held this summer on June 20. Registration has already begun, and will be ongoing until spaces fill up.

The all-inclusive cost is $110 per adult and $55 per student. This accounts for four classes, in-class supplies, morning/afternoon snacks, lunch and a Grandparents University T-shirt.

Not limited to alumni of the university, all grandparents are welcome to bring their grandchildren to the event.

“Its for any grandparents in the community,” Geurink said. “With a limited budget . we are hoping that a community this size will continue to support the university.”

Likewise, although the program is titled Grandparents University, it is not limited to just grandparents.

“We don’t want to restrict or eliminate inviting grandchildren to come if they don’t have a grandparent who can come,” Geurink said. “So it’s a ‘special person’ who can do that.”

Geurink thinks there are several goals to the event, but there certainly isn’t one definite one.

“The importance to lifelong learning is one and the intergenerational bonding that happens is another,” Geurink said. “It’s so healthy for the grandchildren and grandparents to see one another learning.”

An added bonus, Geurink believes, is helping unite families.

“The other thing this could do is unite cousins,” Geurink said. “Because the cousins would then fly in from each coast and get to be with grandma and grandpa.”

Ultimately Geurink thinks this is a great event for everyone involved and that it will continue to grow year after year.

“The children get this wonderful sense of reality from being in a classroom, walking around and maybe getting to see where grandma or grandpa went to school if they were alums,” Geurink said. “It’s just such a win-win situation.”