Whether with Public Schools, Childcare Providers or Transit Authorities,
Children's Museums Partner Creatively with Their Communities

MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Announce
Award-Winning Museum Programs

Washington, DC - The Association of Children's Museums (ACM) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2003 MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award. The annual award honors innovative management and programming practices in children's museums and will be presented this year at the ACM InterActivity conference on May 1-3 in Houston, Texas. To commemorate the award's fifth year, ACM and MetLife Foundation have produced Profiles of Promising Practices, a publication describing all of the award-winning projects. [Free copies of the publication are available by request or can be downloaded from www.childrensmuseums.org after May 7, 2003.]
This year's award recipients are Minnesota Children's Museum of St. Paul, Minnesota; the Hands On Children's Museum of Olympia, Washington and the Children's Museum in Snohomish County of Everett, Washington. Minnesota Children's Museum will receive a $10,000 unrestricted grant, and the Hands On Children's Museum and the Children's Museum in Snohomish County will receive unrestricted grants of $5,000 each.

Established in 1999, the Promising Practice Award provides recognition and inspiration for children's museums to develop programs that are inclusive, meet community needs, encourage community partnerships and promote lifelong learning. A committee of museum experts judges the award competition, which is open to nonprofit children's museums in the United States that are voting members of ACM.

" We struck a chord with our members this year with a theme that explores the many ways children's museums foster the value of lifelong learning and use strategic partnerships to create communities of learners on behalf of children," said Janet Rice Elman, ACM Executive Director. "We received more than 40 applications, many describing extraordinary community alliances designed to harness the unique strengths of each partner."

"We salute the museums selected for the 2003 Promising Practice Award," said Sibyl Jacobson, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation. "Their projects, and those of the previous winners, demonstrate the many ways children's museums are important partners in building healthy communities. Our grants are intended to encourage children's museums to continue addressing the needs of their communities, especially the needs of the youngest community members, by seeking active partnerships."

OVERVIEW OF 2003 AWARD-WINNING PROGRAMS
(Images of the programs are available upon request.)

Minnesota Children's Museum's Weaving Resources program provides every St. Paul public school child (kindergarten through the second grade) with a series of in-depth educational experiences based on the museum's exhibits and programs. The museum collaborated closely with the school district to design sets of classroom and museum activities that align with the school district's curriculum and with the state learning standards. Kindergartners take a Magical Math Tour to "find the math" as they play in the museum's galleries. First grade students spend six weeks studying insects with help from a Museum Insect Discovery Kit and a trip to the museum's Anthill exhibit. Second graders focus on social studies and use the resources of the museum's One World gallery. Weaving Resources is such a success that it has been incorporated into the St. Paul Public Schools' curriculum for grades K-2. [Contact: Carleen Rhodes, Minnesota Children's Museum President, at 651.225.6001.]

Hand in Hand is a community-wide education campaign of the Hands On Children's Museum that promotes the value of early learning and early literacy. When the museum became aware that the learning needs of young children in its South Puget Sound community were not being adequately met, it initiated the project by forming an 18-member community-based Early Learning Advisory Committee to assess community needs and resources. The resulting collaboration, Hand in Hand, provides parent education and child care provider training, support services for caregivers and critical information about how adults can help stimulate the healthy development of a child's brain. The museum has become an effective catalyst for change by bringing the important message of early learning to the community it serves. [Contact: Patty Belmonte, Hands On Children's Museum Executive Director, at 360.956.0818.]

The Children's Museum in Snohomish County found that the collaborative project it created with the city of Everett and its primary bus transit system, which they named Education & Fun Rolled into One!, could address overlapping concerns for all partners. Located in the heart of Everett, the museum faced a critical shortage of parking. At the same time, city officials and Everett Transit were interested in boosting bus ridership and providing programming specifically for children at its new $45 million transit complex and art center. Together the partners created a program through which museum patrons can park at Everett Station and enjoy a child-friendly tour of the facility developed by the museum's education staff. The buses at the complex are then available to take patrons to the museum. The new program promotes public transportation, brings new audiences to the transit complex and art center, facilitates use of the museum and educates children about mass transit. [Contact Nancy Johnson, Children's Museum in Snohomish County Executive Director, at 425.258.1006.]

Three additional museums will receive honorable mentions, which consist of a scholarship to InterActivity 2004. These museums are the Creative Discovery Museum of Chattanooga, Tennessee; Explorations V Children's Museum, Inc. of Lakeland, Florida and the Louisiana Children's Museum of New Orleans.

The Association of Children's Museums is the professional service organization that endeavors to expand the capacity and further the vision of children's museums around the world. ACM's vision is to bring children and families together in a new kind of town square where play inspires lifelong learning. Founded in 1962 as a support group for directors, ACM has broadened its services and purpose as an international association with over 400 members.

MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 by MetLife to carry on its longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement by supporting health, education, civic and cultural organizations throughout the country.

For more information on the MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award contact ACM at 202.898.1080 or visit www.childrensmuseums.org.