Stories

Share: Sidebar: The Broad Reach of Community Services

Sidebar: The Broad Reach of Community Services

Written by Dorothy Merrill and Patricia A. Steuert

Resource Center & Community Services Funded Projects MATCh Box (1964-68)
US Office of Education, title VII-B of the National Defense Act. $188,000, later increased to $373,000. Materials and Activities for Teachers and Children (published by AS& E), a series of sixteen in-depth activity and lesson kits for grades K-6. Titles include Grouping Birds, Animal Camouflage, Waterplay, Rocks, Seeds, Houses, The City, Netsilik Eskimos, Medieval People, Musical Shapes and Sounds, House of Ancient Greece, The Algonquins, Japanese Family, Paddle-to-the Sea, Imagination Unlimited, and MATCH Press.

Workshop of Things (1969)
Carnegie Corporation Grant, supporting the staff, development and materials.

Earthmobile (1970)
Boston Mayor's Office. A traveling program that brought staff and a van full of materials to community youth organizations in Boston. Many of the activities were compiled in the Whole Earthmobile Catalogue and are still used in the museum.

Open City (1971)
US Office of Environmental Education $35,000. A program of city exploration teaching teen about their city and building their skills using public transportation.

Community Outreach (1970)
NEA Wider Availability of Museums with match provided by income of Haunted House, among others.

Ethnic Discovery (1974)
US Office of Education. Activities/training program that helped students and teachers discover their own heritages and become acquainted with others'.

City Games (1975)
Boston Bicentennial, Cambridge Seven Architects. A guidebook to downtown Boston with site-specific activities for families to do in each neighborhood.

Centre Street (1975)
NEH. An exhibit/book/street fair celebrating the past and present of the museum's old neighborhood.

Fort Point Channel Exhibit (1976)
NEA, $10,000. An exhibit describing the history of the museum's new neighborhood.

The Library Project (1976)
NEH $10,500. Development of traveling library exhibits/cultural activities for four Massachusetts town libraries and the new Children's Museum at the Wharf.

Sponsored admissions (1976)
Mass Council for Arts and Humanities $22,000. Free admission for school and community groups.

Harvard East Asian Project (1976-first year)
Annual support from Harvard University for teacher programs on China and Japan.

Explorations and Courses for Adults (1976)
NEA, $28,000. Established permanent programs for in-depth learning in cultures, environmental arts and human development and a catalogue these programs.

636 Programs (1977-78)
Commonwealth of Massachusetts $52,000 for first two years of programs in BPS classrooms.

TriArts (1977)
Mass Council for the Arts and Humanities $6,000 for in-depth program.

Discovery Kits Design Project (1979)
National Endowment for the Arts and Massachusetts Cultural Council, supporting development of new Discovery kits.

PlaySpace Parent Resources (1981-85)
Carnegie Corporation. Resource area, try-outs of parent rooms in off-site location and national conference to share the findings.

Detours Project for Teens (1981-1986)
NEH. A series of theme-related illustrated maps, a monthly newsletter and a program of field trips via public transportation.

Japan Kits (1984)
US Japan Friendship Commission. Development of kits for national distribution.

Science Resources for Teachers:
Doing Science and Ideas in Science (1984)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Packets of lesson plans, background information and posters exploring topics such as structures, bubbles, popcorn and fluid patterns.

Boston Public School Kits (1987)
Boston Public Schools $43,000. Kits and workshops for middle-school science teachers.

Preschool Science Initiative (1987)
AAAS and the Urban League. A science curriculum for preschools in several cities nationwide.

Models in Physical Science, Middle School Curriculum, (1990-93)
NSF $474,000. An extensive middle school curriculum and kit development project.

Adventures in Community Education in Science (1992)
NSF, $523,000. A collaboration with BCM, the Museum of Science, the Franklin Park Zoo and three neighborhood community centers; documented by WGBH in 1995 in the video Partnerships that Work: the Museum, the Zoo, the Community and Kids.

Pathways Project (1991)
A program that helps teens evolve in roles from visitors and students to museum workers.

The Green Facts According to Kids (1980s)
Environmental Protection Agency. Video interviews of children discussing environmental issues and booklet of related activities.

Youth Alive! (1992-94)
DeWitt Wallace Foundation. Teen work and study program.

Inquire Within (1993)
Howard Hughes Medical Institute $275,000. An environmental and health education project for Boston Public School children.