User:Jacob.Walker/Blog/2026-01-17 50th Birthday Party Plan

Jacob's 50th Birthday Party is not only a party, but a reflection of Jacob's life, and his continual striving to get more effect for the effort. Specifically, Jacob's first half century of consciousness has had one continual theme: Rethinking Education, with the following being a quick summary of the journey, as written by him:

• Before I entered Kindergarten, I was almost "held back" in preschool, and so was considered a "slow learner".
• But, after being pulled from formal school at the age of 9, to take a trip around the United States for 3 months, where my dad made sure we stopped at every historical museum AND every NASA space center, I then became known as the "smart kid" in school, because I was now fascinated with learning about our history and our future.
• Then around the age of 11, my parents told me not to touch their Atari ST computer... And my self-taught journey of reaching expertise in technology began.
• And this led my teenage years to have a bifurcation of having my high school experience at Del Oro being valuable, especially Mr. Lasley inspiring me to think deductively, and Mr. Kurnett inspiring me to think scientifically, and a key experiment blew my mind and made me recognize our human epistemic fallibility.
• At the same time, I was starting to meet other computer nerds via electronic BBS systems (a proto Internet), which led to meeting the friends I made online with MUPTs (Modem User Pizza Thingies), and that along with my playing AD&D, led to Techno Gnomes being formed as a group of friends still connected today, in some way.
• And these friends, and the birth of the Internet as a more public thing, led us Sierra College students, to start the first Internet provider in Placer County: Psyberware. This lit the flame of entrepreneurship in my heart, that will not stop burning, even today when it would be easier to take an easier path.
• But change is inevitable (except from a vending machine :-), and as the journey of Psyberware was winding down because modems couldn't go faster, and broadband was controlled by an oligopoly, I changed careers more directly to being an educator, where I started teaching at Grant Adult Education, and working towards a Bachelor's degree in Vocational Education (BVE). It put me into a new paradigm of education, with teaching self-paced mastery-learning courses, where I would literally have adult students who were millionaires sitting next to someone who was homeless, and they interacted as equal students, not knowing the others background.
• Twin Rivers Adult School
• Highlands Community Charter
• SCUSD/Renaissance
• "Unemployment"

Here is the evolving plan about the logistics of the party, for all who are more than an attendee, but a deeper supporter of this work.

Schedule

Pacific Time (PST)	GMT / UTC (24hr)	Segment	In-Person	Online	Media
10:00–11:00 AM		Setup	Sanctuary Chairs & Other Setup		🎶 Jacob's 50th Setup for Greatness 🙌
11:00–12:20 PM	19:00–20:20		Manning Hall Tables & Chairs	Tech Setup
12:30–1:00 PM	20:30–21:00	Early Arrivals / Helpers	In-Person Greeters greet guests	Online greeters	🎶 Jacob's 50th Years Passing Playlist 🥂
1:00–1:15 PM	21:00–21:15	Arrival & Settling In	Potluck setup
1:15–1:30 PM	21:15–21:30	Jacob Welcome's Everyone	Jacob is on stage with Welcome	Discord Stage
1:30–1:45 PM	21:30–21:45	Getting to know your group	Get Food and Table Introductions	"Table" Intros
1:45–2:30 PM	21:45–22:30	ReThink Conversation Starter	Table Conversation	"Table" Convo	🎶 Jacob's 50th ReThink 🤯
2:30–2:45 PM	22:30–22:45	Jacob's Thoughts from Stage	Cake + Intro to "Yes And"		📽️ Karen Tilstra's Yes And TEDx
2:45–3:45 PM	22:45–23:45	"Yes And" Improv(e)	Table Conversation	"Table" Convo	🎶 Jacob's 50th Yes And 🙂‍↕️🙵
3:45–4:00 PM	23:45–00:00	Appreciation and Action	Jacob is on stage with closing	Discord Stage	🎶 Jacob's 50th Go Out and Do It! 🦸‍♂️
4:00–4:30 PM		After Mingling	People can mingle as desired	At "Table"
4:30–5:00 PM		Cleanup Back to Original		Get Recordings

Table Conversation Starter to ReThink Education

Table Leads ask one at time (don't do all questions at once, we want to go around quickly)

1. Who are you? and...
2. What is one thing you want us to know about you?
3. How do you know Jacob?
4. What is the most valuable thing you learned in school?
5. What was the most useless thing you learned in school?
6. What is the most valuable thing you learned outside of school?
7. If there was one thing you could have everyone in the world learn, what would it be?

"Yes And" Improv(e) Table Conversation

1. Lead Asks the table: "When you hear the term ___ what is the image you get in your head?"
2. Lead gives everyone an actual description of the concept, and reads it aloud
3. Lead asks for someone to play devil's advocate and share a hurdle that would make it not work.
4. Then the table goes around with a solution brainstorm in a "yes, and..." manner.

Teams

Setup Team

• Jerry Walker - Team Lead
• Jacob Walker
• Kristen Walker
• Taha Walker
• Riley Walker

Tech Team

• David Jones - Team Lead, Online Coordination
• Jacob Aronson - Online Support
• Dave Langley? - Videography
• Dave Werkely? - Sound Board
• Jesse Sanchez? - Audience & Room Support

Table Leads Team

• Family Enterprise Education
  • In-Person: Aimee Walker?
  • Online: ?
• Digitools for Developing Economies
  • In-Person: Jerry Yamashita?
  • Online: Gibran R. Nameer
• Demeaned to Dignified
  • In-Person: Araceli Perez
  • Online: Ash Rahman
• Master Educator
  • In-Person: Alice Jacobs?
  • Online: Doreen?
• Competency Cubes
  • In-Person: ?
  • Online: Olga Evans
• GPTeachers
  • In-Person: Corbin Crutchley
  • Online: Jessica Temporal?
• Mentorship
  • In-Person: Tami Kaceveros?
  • Online: (media person my aphasia is hitting me on)
• Pay It Forward
  • In-Person: Pam Hart?
  • Online: Derrick
• Hack & Dice
  • In-Person: David Deppner?
  • Online: Find math person

Cleanup Team

• Jerry Walker - Team Lead
• Jacob Walker
• Kristen Walker
• Taha Walker
• Riley Walker
• Others who volunteer