Hi, everybody. A few of you asked if I would share the responses I got about outreach programming. I think that everybody posted these directly to the list and not just to me, but just in case somebody missed one, here they all are. Thank you again to those who responded. It is much appreciated. I asked a friend from a local children's museum, and she provided the following information about her outreach programs. She charges $125.00 per outreach, which means that she might have one session and she might have four sessions at one school, and she charges the same amount so long as they are on the same day. The fee covers her mileage and any materials they may use, in addition to her time. She has not placed a limit on how far she will travel. She encourages working with one classroom at a time, though she has worked with up to three at a time. This has proven less effective, but sometimes groups have no other choice than to combine into one large group. As far as her fee, sometimes a school will tell her that they only have $95, for example, to work with, and in such circumstances she will accept a lower fee. She sends pre- and post- visit materials to all of the groups she works with. Here are the other responses. Sincerely, Alissa Acker Curator of Education Lake Superior Railroad Museum Hi! I work for an archaeological site that does have outreach programs. Hope this can be of some use to you. 1. Our site does not usually charge for our outreach programs, unless we do a special program that involves making pottery or necklaces, or other crafts that will be taken home. These special programs involving crafts usually have a materials fee. The fee ranges from $1.00-$2.00 per student. 2. The programs that we provide usually work best with a group of 35 students or less. This is because we have hands on activities such as using prehistoric drills, mortars and pestles, and the chance to observe an artifact by being able to hold it. We will provide assembly type programs if asked however. 3. Our program topics involve archaeology and Native American lifeways, particularly the Mississippian culture because Wickliffe Mounds is a Mississippian village that dates from 1100-1350 AD. Also as a Kentucky site, our programs emphasize the goals of KERA (the Kentucky Education Reform Act). 4. Yes. We do limit the distance we will travel. Our service range is 60 miles. However, this covers three states. There is no mileage charge to the schools within the service range. Missy Story Museum Educator Wickliffe Mounds Research Center PO Box 155, 94 Green St. Wickliffe KY 42087 270-335-3681 [log in to unmask] Alissa and Listeros: I too am developing outreach programs for our museum. We are a state funded museum so our monetary issues may not be the same. We do not charge for our outreaches. We have limited our outreach area to within 2 hours of driving. We have gone to areas of California as we are close to the border. Usually the group is limited to a classroom presentation, however an assembly is not out of the question. What has been successful is visiting different classrooms all day long at one school. In order to reach as many classrooms as possible. Usually the teacher has scheduled a tour and we make a visit to the school prior to the tour. This enhances the tour by allowing the discussion of more topics. I try to talk to the teacher before hand and ask what subject/s they would like to have emphasized when I do the outreach. I have used the Nevada curriculum standards to develop my topics. We will also visit schools that can not schedule a tour but would like to have a classroom visit. Works great for middle schools where it is extremely difficult to take a field trip. I am forming a teacher advisory panel that will help me set topics and evaluate programming. It might be good to get involved with your local teachers association. Get on their agenda for their meeting. Might help make connections with the teachers that are really interested in what you have to offer. We have also done outreaches to nursing homes. I am currently developing outreach trunks about Railroad Science and Social Issues of the railroad. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. Maria E. Sanchez Curator of Education Nevada State RR Museum Carson City Nevada Hello Alissa, In light of how new we are to our museum (only three years), it is a little presumptuous of me to be attempting to answer your questions, but I will tell you of our experiences thus far, as we develop our program(s). We are a small, local historical society in a small train station building, which was formerly a waiting room. The "active" train station building (that sells tickets, etc.) is opposite us on the tracks. In recognition of the fact that we are the historical society, that has dictated the direction of our outreach thus far, and I imagine your purpose would give direction to your programs, too. As I get my feet wet at this (I am *the* staff and only a part-time volunteer), I have thus far had only the fourth grades from the closest elementary school. They walked to the train station, they looked around for about ten minutes and had a "What Do You Think it is?" worksheet, with (digitally-done) line drawings of things that were on a table. We had a forty-five minute lesson on the history of the town, with an emphasis on what it was like for a child to live here in whatever period we were discussing, and I incorporated the mystery things that were on the table when they came in. After I talked, they looked around for another few minutes, as they wanted a closer look at some of the things about which we had talked. Our space is limited, by fire code, to fifty people -- and that is VERY tight. We then took only one class at a time. The second year we did this (because of a very enthusiastic teacher), we had three fourth grade classes walk over, one right after the other. One was going out as another was coming in. This year I prepared an exhibit (for the public) of some items that were recently donated to the society, from the contents of an attic, and I utilized the things in there to recreate life in the town at around 1900. For instance, we inherited a chamber pot, so in the middle of the lecture to the fourth grades, I showed the classes a short, related video clip from the PBS show "The 1900 House", where the similarly-aged children (who were living for three months in the house stripped back to the 1900s style) had to empty the chamber pot in the morning. I realized that by utilizing whatever I am exhibiting, I can vary the presentation for each year, by using those objects to recreate the times. I then contacted the board of education and got in touch with the head of the social studies department. I told her I would like to expand now to one additional fourth grade in another of the four elementary schools here. She and I will meet, after school, with the fourth grade teachers in another school next week. I will tell them what I have done thus far and bring samples of the worksheets, etc. When I am comfortable with two schools, I will ask to meet with the fourth grade teachers in the third school, then the fourth. I have not yet looked ahead to whether I would like to have a program for each grade, but by doing all the fourth grades, I can be assured that most of the entire school population will have passed through the museum once. I have also had Brownie groups visit and I do a similar, but slightly different program, often incorporating some of the scouting material that we have. We do not charge the schools for this, as we consider it the reason for our existence and since the town lets us use the building (and pays for repairs to the structure), I think it is the best way we can repay the residents of the community. In the wake of our last exhibit, a member of a nearby historical society asked if we would take our exhibit on the road to her society for a February program, and we will. We will not charge for this, as I consider it a "professional courtesy" for another historical society. That is as much as we have done to date with our outreach programs and I would be very interested in learning about the other replies that you have received to your inquiry. Perhaps you can summarize them and post them to the list? Thank you Lynne Hi, The experience at our museum is that service fees to schools for out reach and admissions is a barrier to the schools regardless of the fee level. Classroom and student budgets are not that flexible. We have also learned that education of children in heritage issues is the most compelling aspect of our operation which stimulates charitable gifts. Small and midsize museums are far better off financially if they ask donors to support their education programs over almost any other aspect of programmatic costs. Donors want to see kids turned on to history. They will give to make this happen. Greg Koos McLean County Museum of History Bloomington IL ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . 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