Change and enhance the Children's Discovery Museum (CDM) School Service Program (SSP) with additional program staffing and new interactive exhibits II
The Children's Discovery Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota will strengthen its acclaimed school service program by: (1) continued leadership of a new Program Director retained on January 1, 2016 (2) creating a new (Minnesota built) core interactive exhibit; (3) developing new curriculum for pre-school through 3rd grade students in ten northern Minnesota counties.
$950,000 each year is for arts and cultural heritage grants to children's museums.Of this amount, $500,000 each year is for the Minnesota Children's Museum, including the Minnesota Children's Museum in Rochester; $150,000 each year is for the Duluth Children's Museum; $150,000 each year is for the Grand Rapids Children's Museum; and $150,000 each year is for the Southern Minnesota Children's Museum.Note: Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) informed all granting agencies that the February 2016 Legacy budget forecast identified deficits in the current biennium in the Arts and Cultural Heritage fund. 3% of all grantees' allocations are being held back until additional forecasting has been completed. This includes a reduction in the administrative fees taken by the Minnesota Humanities Center.
1) School teachers rate the design and age appropriateness of new interactive exhibits with an average score of 4.20 or higher (5 being the highest score and 1 being the lowest).2) School teachers rate the value of new exhibits as helpful in meeting education goals for their students with an average score of 4.20 or higher.3) All teacher evaluation scores on a series of four questions are rated with an average score of 4.10 or higher.4) School program enrollment grows by 2 - 5% over the previous school year.5) Walk-in attendance grows by 2 - 5% over the previous year.6) Two-to-three new schools enroll for the very first time.7) Twenty-to-thirty schools enroll their students for the second year in a row.8) The membership roster grows by 20 - 30 households.9) CDM educators make personal visits and presentations at 4 to 6 teacher staff meetings and multi-district workshops.10) E-mails and e-newsletters are sent to area school principals and teachers once-a-month.
The average rating score from parents, grandparents, and chaperones was 4.50.School Service Program enrollment grew by 26% over the previous academic year. An additional 961 participants - 787 students, 117 schoolteachers & 57 chaperones.Walk-in attendance grew by 16% - 1,364 more participants.Three schools enrolled for the very first time: South Ridge Elementary in Culver/Pine County, Bay View Elementary in Duluth/St. Louis County and Explorations Home Group in Grand Rapids/Itasca County.46 schools enrolled their students for a second year in a rowThe membership roster grew by 84 new household, grandparent and extended family annual memberships. Current memberships now stand at 419.CDM educators made personal visits at 4 grade-level meetings and multi-district workshops.