(May 3, 2001 -- St. Louis, Missouri) Lori Holden, First Lady of Missouri, joins the Association of Children's Museums (ACM) at InterActivity 2001, its annual conference, in St. Louis, Friday, May 4. Mrs. Holden will introduce the recipient of the 2001 Great Friend to Kids Award and join St. Louis teens in a kids town hall called "Voices of Young People." The three-day conference brings together industry professionals, educators, and researchers from the United States and around the world.

"Children's museums worldwide engaged more than 33 million visitors at over 300 of these venues last year," said ACM's Executive Director, Janet Rice Elman.

Missouri-based ACM members include The Magic House (St. Louis), Worldways Children's Museum (Ballwin), Kaleidoscope, the traveling museum by Hallmark (Kansas City), The Children's Peace Pavilion (Independence), Bootheel Youth Museum (Malden), City Museum (St. Louis), and Science City at Union Station (Kansas City). In 1999, these museums attracted over 920,000 children and families.

This year's conference, InterActivity 2001, held at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis, will launch the Association of Children's Museums' new vision statement- bringing children and families together in a new kind of "town square" where play inspires lifelong learning- and will explore how children's museums are creating a sense of place where families can have fun, learn together and share experiences with their community. As family destinations, children museums provide a safe and supportive environment, which creates the basis for this "town square" vision. ACM will also announce its name change from Association of Youth Museums to Association of Children's Museums.
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InterActivity 2001 topics include the role of civic organizations in building strong communities; the different roles schools and informal learning environments play in kids' lives; and the use of the internet in finding common ground across communities.

Keynote addresses will be made daily at 9 a.m. Speakers at InterActivity 2001 include

• First Lady of Missouri Lori Holden. The First Lady is an ardent political and social activist in the areas of education, mental health, and the arts. She will introduce the keynote speaker at 9:00 a.m. and participate in the Kid's Town Hall at 10:30 a.m.
  on Friday, May 4.
  
• Benjamin R. Barber, Ph.D., Director of the Walt Whitman Center for Culture and Politics of Democracy at Rutgers University will keynote at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 3.
  
• David Elkind, Ph.D., Professor of Child Development at Tufts University and acclaimed author of The Hurried Child will keynote at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, May 4. Dr. Elkind is the recipient of the 2001 Great Friend to Kids Award.
  Darien Dash, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of DME Interactive Holdings will keynote at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 5.

Three children's museums will be awarded for their innovative programming and management practices. This award, The Metropolitan Life Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award, will be given in a ceremony prior to Darien Dash's keynote address on Saturday, May 5 at 9:00 a.m.

InterActivity 2001 is supported by Binney & Smith, The Children's Museum of Houston, CPI Corporation, Emerson Electric, Institute for Civil Society, Edward Jones, Inc., and Klutz.

ACM is a professional service organization that endeavors to expand the capacity and further the vision of youth museums around the world. Founded in 1962 as a support group for directors, ACM has broadened its services and purpose as an international association with over 400 members.