The following is a press release from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, DC. To read an HTML version of this release, please access: http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/071503-2.htm <http://www.imls.gov/whatsnew/current/071503-2.htm> July 15, 2003 Contact: Eileen Maxwell, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> 202-606-8339 Mamie Bittner, [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> Museums Making friends and Changing Lives Federal Grants to Museums Working with Community Organizations to Strengthen Neighborhoods Washington, DC - Today the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the Federal agency that supports the nation's museums and libraries, awarded over $1 million ($1,374,073) to museums that are collaborating with neighborhood organizations to address pressing community needs. The awards are being funded under the Institute's prestigious National Leadership Grants program. The museums will match the awards with an additional $1,617,434. For a contact list of funded museums in your state, with descriptions of their partnership projects, please see the list below. Among the museums selected for funding are the Chicago Botanic Garden to partner with the Gads Hill Center (a non-profit family resource center serving the area's Mexican-American community) to nurture an interest in science and math in junior high school students; the Boston Children's Museum to partner with Countdown to Kindergarten (a community education consortium including Head Start, Boston Public Schools, and many other organizations) to help at-risk children transition from preschool to kindergarten; and the Florida Aquarium to collaborate with the State's Parent-Educators Association, the Lowry Park Zoo, and Nature's Classroom (a 365 acre outdoor educational center for the area county's public schools) to engage home schooled children and their families in hands-on science learning through curriculum based on Florida State Standard Science Goals. "No matter a museum's size or discipline, chances are, it offers educational activities specifically geared for school-age children," remarked the Institute's Director, Dr. Robert S. Martin. "According to a recent IMLS study, America's museums commit more than 18 million instructional hours every year on programs for K-12 schoolchildren. The grants we make today illuminate this finding vividly and demonstrate our commitment to encourage a love of learning in all children and their families through partnerships with our nation's museums and schools, charitable organizations, community centers, and the like." Since 1998, IMLS has awarded over $18 million dollars ($18,793,837) in National Leadership Grants to museums and libraries with the grant recipients matching the awards with over $20 million ($20,532,647). National Leadership Grants support model projects that improve library and museum services and enhance collaborations between libraries and museums. There are four categories of funding through IMLS' National Leadership Grants for museums: Museums in the Community, Museums Online, Professional Practices, and Library-Museum Collaborations. Today's recipients are funded through the Museums in the Community category. Museums in the Community grants support museum-community partnerships that enhance the quality of community life. The remaining two grant categories will be announced in September, 2003. About the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) The IMLS is an independent Federal agency that fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The Institute encourages partnerships to expand the educational benefit of libraries and museums. For more information about the Institute, please log onto www.imls.gov <http://www.imls.gov/> . institute of Museum and library services 2003 National Leadership Grants for Museums Museums in the Community Category Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe, IL Grant Award: $222,988 Recipient Match: $169,356 Project Director: Cindy Klemmer (847)835-6832; [log in to unmask] La Primera Ciencia: An Urban Environmental Science Camp The Chicago Botanic Garden's project goal is to nurture interest in science for a local Hispanic community through creating a summer science camp and after school science activities. The Garden's partnership is with a non-profit family resource center: Gads Hill Center, serving the Mexican-American residents in the Pilsen community. The target audience is students in grades 7-9. The summer camp will have sessions to help the students with science (and math). There will be follow-up program sessions during the school year. The goal of the program is to nurture interest in science by working with students during both the summer and the school year in a familiar setting - the community center. Young at Art of Broward Davie, FL Grant Award: $185,902 Recipient Match: $118,936 Project Director: Mindy Shrago (954)424-0085 x021; ArtREACH ArtREACH is a project by the Young at Art Children's Museum of Broward in collaboration with the School Board of Broward County and two homeless shelters (Providence Place and Angelica House) operated by Catholic Charities in Broward County to provide museum services to children in need. An after-school arts and homework assistance center will be established in Providence Place, for children in both shelters. This program will provide activities at the shelter to support mothers and their children through play and learning. The program encourages life-long learning in the arts by providing free museum memberships to all families that participate. The goal of the project is to assist in building educational skills, self-esteem and self-confidence, and help children and their families learn together and make the museum part of their family life. Boston Children's Museum Boston, MA Grant Award: $499,840 Recipient Match: $909,805 Project Director: Jeri Robinson (617)426-6500x227; [log in to unmask] Making Connections for School Readiness Together with its partner, Countdown to Kindergarten, the museum will collaborate to help at-risk children prepare for the public school system and the transition from preschool to kindergarten. The project also plans to involve parents, kindergarten teachers, and preschool educators to address the key issues of communication, support, and readiness. The first part of the project will articulate a set of "readiness expectations" through three symposia with early educators. The project will also create and implement engaging activities to help children develop the skills needed to reach readiness. Welcoming and supporting activities for parents to participate with their children as families are also a significant aspect of the project. Throughout the project preschool and kindergarten educators will design and implement readiness activities. Finally, the model will be disseminated to other children's museums to help them build connections among educators and the families of young children New Museum of Contemporary Art New York, NY Grant Award: $94,398 Recipient Match: $200,516 Project Director: Anne Barlow (212)219-1222x205; [log in to unmask] Re-Presenting Race in the Digital Age The New Museum of Contemporary Art will partner with two schools--The Heritage High School, Manhattan, NY and the Garfield High School, Seattle, WA,--to develop new interdisciplinary materials for high school teachers as well as museum educators in presenting the complex subject of race . School educators will work with museum educators to provide a flexible set of resources of visual and media literacy guidelines and curriculum. A resource kit and a dedicated Web site will be developed. The project also includes a series of professional development workshops for teachers. A project ending conference formatted into several sessions will be used to review the project and promote successful aspects. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Albuquerque, NM Grant Award: $249,923 Recipient Match: $116,603 Project Director: Madeleine Zeigler (505)841-2857; [log in to unmask] Proyecto Futuro Billingual Partnership Proyecto Futuro is designed to build science and math competencies by focusing on school/family interactions. The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science will partner with the Albuquerque Public Schools for this project. Long term goals of the program are to involve parents in their children's education, foster positive attitude changes in students toward education, and to mutually reinforce positive messages from teachers and parents about how to learn and succeed in science and math. Implementation of the program will be accomplished through family science nights and professional teacher development sessions. Families will be engaged in bilingual math and science activities and receive take-home kits. Teachers will receive training and bilingual teaching materials Florida Aquarium Tampa, FL Grant Award: $121,022 Recipient Match: $102,218 Project Director: Rebecca Clayton (813)367-4017; [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> From the Source to the Sea: An Innovative Program for Homeschool Families Partnering with the Lowry Park Zoo, Florida Parent-Educators Association, and Nature's Classroom, the Florida Aquarium project aims to develop informal learning targeted to home schooled children and their parents. Coordinating with educators from all the partners and a curriculum based on Florida State Standard Science Goals, the project will engage 50 families (approximately 60 students) in an integrated hands-on learning science project utilizing the Hillsborough River Watershed. Monthly units will be developed using a combination of field trips, field activities, family activities, museum visits, and distance learning components. This will provide home school students with a working knowledge of science-based experimentation and greater awareness of preservation and conservations issues. It also provides families with an expanded science curriculum and opportunities to learn together. Eileen Maxwell Public Affairs Specialist Institute of Museum and Library Services 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 510 Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8339 202-606-8591 (fax) [log in to unmask] Subscribe to Primary Source, the IMLS monthly e-mail newsletter, for important museum and library news: http://www.imls.gov/utility/subscribe.htm <http://www.imls.gov/utility/subscribe.htm> . Eileen Maxwell Public Affairs Specialist Institute of Museum and Library Services 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Suite 510 Washington, DC 20506 202-606-8339 202-606-8591 (fax) [log in to unmask] Subscribe to Primary Source, the IMLS monthly e-mail newsletter, for important museum and library news: http://www.imls.gov/utility/subscribe.htm <http://www.imls.gov/utility/subscribe.htm> . ========================================================= 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] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).