The Co-op Food Stores of New Hampshire and Vermont

added 05/11/09

Walking into two local high schools recently to speak about the cooperative movement, my colleague and I were met by scores of bright, mature, eager minds. In the process, I believe I learned far more from them than they learned from me.

by Ken Davis

Imagine this scenario:

Take a bored, doodling, inattentive, wise-cracking wisenheimer in a high school somewhere, age him 20 years or so, and send him back to another high school to speak to a group of young people—fearful in the knowledge that they might all be bored, doodling, inattentive, wise-cracking wisenheimers, too.

Such is the nature of life, which I have noticed is agonizingly chock full of these little moments of poetic justice. In my case—a wisenheimer still in need of reform—such a scenario would be infinitely well-deserved. But life, it seems, occasionally has a sense of mercy to match its sense of humor. So when my Co-op Education Department colleague Jaime Baker and I walked into two local high schools recently to speak to several classes of young people about the cooperative movement, we were met by scores of bright, mature, eager minds with great questions and affable, respectful manners. (Okay, maybe there was a smidgen of wise-cracking here and there.) In the process, I believe I learned far more from Jaime and from the students than they ever learned from me.

It all started innocently enough. I designed the Co-ops Rock! website to reach out to young people about the cooperative movement. In the process, it also caught the attention of some local teachers who showed the site to their classes. These teachers subsequently contacted me to ask if I would come to speak to their students, and I happily said I would love to. Then I begged Jaime to come with me and do most of the talking.

Good egg, that Jaime. She’s smart, engaging, and terrific with young people—all in addition to being a polished, articulate presenter who is both passionate and knowledgeable about cooperative issues and broader socio-economic philosophy. We’ve spoken to about six classes now and, in the process, have nailed down our particular unique tag-team presentation style. In a nutshell, Jaime breaks the ice and leads the presentation, then I regularly jump in and ad lib with vigor, and then together we feed off one another’s remarks and field the students’ myriad of questions and insights.

What I found most remarkable about those questions and insights was their overall wisdom and maturity. Far from the myopia I expected, these kids saw many possibilities in their future, and many of those possibilities concerned them. But they also believed in the hope that can come with change. Green energy, peace and social justice, fair trade, sustainable business practices, and other solution-focused topics were all a part of their lexicon.

Cooperation, therefore, was a natural fit and topic of interest too. They saw it not only for the potential it brings to solving the problems of today, but also for the promise it brings to preventing some of the problems of tomorrow. Discussing all of this with them made me feel like a student myself—a fellow participant in a group discussion immersed deep in the world of ideas.

I left with a feeling that our world, when passed to future generations, will be in remarkably good hands. I also left feeling like Jaime and the students had helped one old wisenheimer to reform just a little bit more.

Ken Davis is the Co-op’s Web Designer/Editor and also lays out the Co-op News.

What Do You Think?

Have some thoughts about this article? We’d love to hear from you! Please email us your suggestion or question. Want to sign up for the email version of the Co-op News? Join our list!