Association of Children's Museums

MetLife Foundation & ACM Promising Practice Award Application

Back to all ACM Award, Recognition and Scholarship Applications

Deadline: February 15, 2011
The Award
MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award rewards excellence and provides recognition for innovative and creative practices in children's museums; promotes management practices that support alternative and creative programming; builds a body of knowledge of exemplary programs and practices; and establishes models for the advancement of the children's museum field at-large. A total of $35,000 will be presented to four museums at InterActivity 2011 in Houston, TX. Although the cash award is unrestricted, recipient museums are encouraged to use the award to further refine, expand or evaluate promising practices. Additionally, four honorable mention applicants will each receive a complimentary registration to InterActivity 2012.

Category
The 2011 Promising Practice Award will recognize practices in children's museums that prepare children to become global citizens. Achieved through programs, exhibits, partnerships and museum policies, these initiatives will highlight the enhancement of 21st century skills, cultural competency, literacy and critical thinking.

Children form ideas about who they are and how they fit into the world around them at an early age. Through technology, they have access to a community that extends beyond their geographic borders. It is essential that they have the necessary tools to effectively communicate, compete and thrive in the worldwide community. The term global citizen implies that an individual has concrete knowledge of how the 21st century world works and an awareness of the links between the local and global community. Global citizenship acknowledges both an individual and a collective responsibility to humankind and to the earth. The term global citizen equally embraces building empathy, appreciating diversity and developing critical-thinking and conflict-resolution skills as factors that are essential in being a global citizen.

Award Designations & Eligibility

One award will be designated for a nonprofit, open, ACM children's museum member located within the United States that has an annual operating budget of $499,999 or less.
One award will be designated for an open, ACM children's museum member located outside of the United States.

Two awards will be designated for nonprofit, open, ACM children's museum members located within the United States.
The 2009 and 2010 Promising Practice Award cash award recipients are not eligible for the 2011 award.
Museum applicants may apply individually or on behalf of a consortium of museums.
All Promising Practice Award recipients are required to accept the award in person at InterActivity 2011 in Houston, TX (May 19-21).
All Promising Practice Award recipients are required to present in person at a follow-up session highlighting their practice at next year's conference, InterActivity 2012, which will be held in Portland, Oregon.

Selection Committee & Notification
Applications will be evaluated by an independent panel (Selection Committee) with expertise in the field of children's museums and/or expertise in the award category. The Selection Committee will deliberate each entry based on an applicants' narrative response to the following questions. Award recipients will be notified in writing by March 30, 2011.

Application Process: Applicants must complete the online application in one sitting; ACM recommends that applicants prepare their answers for the essay questions ahead of time. ACM will send a confirmation email once your application has been submitted. Direct all questions to Korie Twiggs, ACM Program Officer, Education.

MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award Application

Name (First, Last):
Title:
ACM Member Museum:
Phone:
Email:
Please check your ACM membership level:	Open U.S. Children's Museum with a budget under $499,999 Open U.S. Children's Museum with a budget at or above $500,000 Open International Children's Museum
Describe the problem/solution that your promising practice addresses. Click here for sample descriptions. 75 word limit
How does your promising practice support the development of children as future global citizens? 250 word limit
How is your promising practice novel or innovative? Does it inspire a new model for the children's museum field? 300 word limit
How have you measured, or how do you plan to measure, the effectiveness of your promising practice? What were/are the goals of your evaluation? 250 word limit
How does your museum's internal management team support your promising practice? 250 word limit
How does the promising practice enhance or support your museum's mission or strategic direction? 250 word limit
To support your application, you may upload electronic files/scans of brochures, press clippings or letters of endorsement. Total file size limit is 4 MB
Consent to Share Promising Practice If my museum is awarded a 2011 MetLife Foundation and Association of Children's Museums Promising Practice Award, I agree to do the following: send a museum representative to InterActivity 2011 to accept the award; write a press release about the award and distribute it to local media outlets; send ACM all award press clippings; write a case study about the practice for ACM's journal Hand to Hand; and send a museum representative to InterActivity 2012 to participate in the Promising Practice Award Showcase session.
	I have read and understand the requirements to share and promote my promising practice.
Supervisor Name:
My Supervisor:	My supervisor endorses this application.
		**Please only press the Submit button once and wait for the Thank You page to appear to confirm that your email has been sent.

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Three Sample Problem/Solution Descriptions from Prior Award Summaries

What has been missing for some time has been quality curriculum for afterschool programs, and training for their educators that recognize the unique challenges and advantages of Out-Of-School-Time settings. KIDS @fterschool was created to address both of these needs. KIDS @fterschool presents a full year of interdisciplinary activities within a pedagogical framework that teaches educators effective presentation skills, question asking strategies and other techniques. And, most importantly, KIDS is disseminated for free on our Web site.

Often at museums, schools and other public places, young children act up to the point where parents become so overwhelmed they can't focus on anything else around them. The Wakanheza project teaches museum staff and others how to guide effectively such situations in the moment, rather than judging and attempting to fix an individual or situation. Wakanheza is a statewide partnership lead by the Minnesota Children's Museum.

Personal vehicles are the number one cause of Washington's toxic air pollution, sending more than one million tons of pollution into the air each year. "Education & Fun Rolled Into One!" is Imagine Children's Museum's solution that improves the community's awareness about the benefits of public transportation and addresses the museum's critical shortage of parking for patrons accustomed to the convenience of driving.