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December
2005 & January 2006
Contents:
Letter From Lindy - If You're Happy
and You Know It, Clap Your Hands!
Omaha Children's Museum
Announces Campaign
Museum Awarded for Titanic Discovery
Ports
From Toe Jam to the Scientific Method
Grossology's Return Brings Back Sponsors,
too
Giving Back to OCM Helps All in Return
December and January Sponsors of the
Month
Letter
From Lindy
If You're Happy and You Know
It, Clap Your Hands!
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If you are happy and you know it, stomp your
feet!
If you are happy and you know it, then your face will surely
show it.
If you are happy and you know it, shout Hurrah! HURRAH!
I’m happy and I know it because I get the honor and
privilege of serving as the executive director of Omaha’s
only participatory museum. I am happy because I have a wonderful
family that understands the importance of being together to
celebrate milestones in each others’ lives, and I am
really happy because winter is coming and I LOVE snow (really,
I do love it!).
What is it that makes you happy? What occasions and celebrations
make you happy to be with family and close friends? If you
take a moment to think about that, I bet your face will break
into an uncontrolled smile.
At Omaha Children’s Museum we make kids happy. They
are happy to walk in the door and take off in every direction
in pursuit of fun. We also make adults happy, because we provide
a safe place for kids to explore, play and run off excess
energy in a warm, enclosed environment. You can help us maintain
a positive, happy attitude by attending our special events
and programs. Just your presence makes the OCM staff do the
happy dance.
As winter and holidays approach, I hope that when you find
yourself in need of a dose of the happy bug this winter, you’ll
head on down to OCM and let us cure your blues.
See you soon!
Lindy J. Hoyer
Executive Director
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Omaha
Children's Museum Announces Campaign
Pledges and donations
to date top $4.3 million
 Omaha
Children’s Museum announced its “Building on the
Best” campaign to completely renovate the museum’s
permanent exhibits. The $6.6 million campaign includes the
first floor exhibit areas, new outdoor exhibits and signage
and a fully-equipped second floor science lab. To date, more
than $4.2 million has been raised through foundations, corporations
and private donors.
“More than a year and half of planning, dreaming, discussing,
studying and meeting culminates in the ‘Building on
the Best’ campaign,” said Lindy J. Hoyer, executive
director of Omaha Children’s Museum.
Throughout the campaign, OCM will seek donations from the
community through special events and fundraising activities.
Demolition and construction will begin in the arts area, starting
in April 2006. The museum will remain open during the process,
re-opening areas as they are completed and, then, closing
others for construction. The project will be finished in 2007.
“Building on the Best,” according to Hoyer, refers
to the master plan for exhibits and programs that takes all
the best offerings of the museum and improves them. While
many areas will be similar, such as the grocery store, farm,
arts area and science center, they will be outfitted with
new exhibits and activities.
The museum’s master plan was a multi-year effort of
museum staff, board members, friends in the community along
with outside consultants. The master plan task force toured
other museums and science centers in the region, gleaning
good ideas and generating their own. Then, they met with children,
teachers and parents for more ideas.
In December 2003, the master plan was presented to the museum’s
board of directors and unanimously approved. That was followed
by a feasibility study to determine the project size that
could be supported by the area’s philanthropic community.
With the results in, concept designs were drawn for the first
floor, the second floor science lab and the building’s
exterior. The museum’s board approved those plans in
October 2004.
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Museum
Awarded for Titanic Discovery Ports
Science Centers Recognize OCM for
Educational Visitor Experience
In a field dominated by science
centers, Omaha Children’s Museum was singled out for
its approach to hosting the blockbuster traveling exhibit
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit.
On October 16, 2005, the museum was awarded the Association
of Science-Technology Centers’ (ASTC) Leading Edge Award
for Visitor Experience for developing the Titanic Discovery
Ports. Omaha Children’s Museum Executive Director Lindy
Hoyer accepted the award at ASTC’s annual conference
in Richmond, Virginia.
Omaha Children’s Museum created the Titanic Discovery
Ports in order to complement Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit,
which the museum exhibited in the summer 2004. Titanic expanded
the museum visitor age-range into older children and adults
with its display of actual artifacts from the sunken ship.
Said Hoyer, “I’m very grateful to receive this
honor, particularly as this year’s conference is about
creating partnerships and changing the way we think. This
project started with a phone call asking me where I thought
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit could be exhibited in Omaha.
We took that as a challenge to ourselves to step out of our
comfort zone, take a chance and yet remain true to our mission.
Because of that call, and the work that followed, Omaha Children’s
Museum created some lasting partnerships with funders, schools,
local theater groups and RMS Titanic Inc.
"It’s also deeply rewarding to be recognized by
the Association of Science-Technology Centers as a children’s
museum impacting science, education and the visitor experience.
Thank you to the ASTC board, committee and staff for acknowledging
that small-but-mighty children’s museums can influence
the lives of children and promote science in our own way.”
Each year, ASTC gives two Leading Edge Awards for Visitor
Experience, one to a large museum (with a budget of $1.5 million
or above) and one to a smaller museum, which Omaha Children’s
Museum received.
Each nomination is judged according to its unique application
of new ideas and promising practices, demonstrating a leap
of creativity and an extraordinary dimension of performance;
its role in furthering the institution’s mission by
achieving a tangible impact or lasting effect on visitor experience-including,
but not limited to, exhibitions, education programs, technology
applications, theater and film programming, visitor services,
research and evaluation; its embodiment of the ASTC values
of collaboration, joy of experiential learning, equity and
diversity, and forward-looking leadership; and its potential
to serve as a model of creative thinking and best practices
for the field as a whole.
Discovery Ports: A Titanic Program was made possible by the
Peter Kiewit Foundation, The Ahmanson Foundation, The Iowa
West Foundation, George and Susan Venteicher, The Charles
and Mary Heider Family Foundation, The Qwest Foundation and
The Rainbow Connectors Guild.
Discovery Ports: A Titanic Program is suited for children
grades K - 8. Discovery Ports is still available as an outreach
program this school year by visiting www.ocm.org or by calling
(402) 342-6164 ext. 410.
Titanic Discovery Ports provides hands-on learning
for younger children in the areas of physics, navigation,
class distinctions, wireless technology, deep sea recovery
and ship consturction.
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From
Toe Jam to the Scientific Method
Grossology's most important lesson: "Science is fun"
Babies are born scientists.
They learn by boldly experimenting, unsure of the outcome.
Once they get to the point of talking, they carry on their
investigations, constantly asking “Why?”
Somewhere along the way, that natural curiosity can lead to
the study of science. That’s how Sylvia Branzei, then
a junior high science teacher, invented Grossology.
One day, as Branzei sat clipping her toenails, she noticed
the icky stuff that forms under the nails and thought, “Hey,
I can figure out what that disgusting stuff under my nails
is.” After she contemplated the formation of toe jam,
an idea hit her: “Kids love gross stuff. I can teach
them science using gross as a hook. Grossology!”
She brought that approach to her middle school classrooms.
Branzei said, “Instead of coming in and saying, ‘Today,
we’re going to learn about the digestive system,’
I’d say, ‘Raise your hand if you want to learn
about barf or spit.’ Most of the kids were with me from
day one.”
Branzei would deliberately use everyday terms to describe
the human body.
" In junior high science classes, kids learn more vocabulary
than in a first-year language course,” said Branzei.
“The new vocabulary is coupled with new concepts. The
child must translate the new words and immediately apply them.
The result is that most children only learn to hate science
because they believe it is difficult.”
Grossology changed that.
According to Branzei, around 70 percent of what a child remembers
is how they felt about something.
Said Branzei, “If they come into your class and leave
saying, ‘Wow, that was really fun,’ what they’re
really saying (and what they’ll take with them) is ‘science
is fun.’ They will hold onto the emotion longer than
the information.”
Branzei matched her use of everyday terms with everyday materials.
"Nearly, of all my supplies came from the grocery store.
I didn’t have money for anything else,” said Branzei.
The fringe benefit was familiarity on the part of students.
“If they can, teachers should try to get students to
be more hands-on with materials that they’re used to,”
said Branzei. “Thinking like a scientist is more important
than whether they can use beakers instead of plastic cups.”
Thinking like a scientist means being willing to follow your
questions to answers that often lead to more and more questions.
"People relate science to facts,” said Branzei,
“but the basis of science is the scientific method.”
The scientific method is a means by which questions are asked,
hypotheses proposed and tested, results measured and conclusions
drawn. At that point, hypotheses can be changed or reinforced,
perhaps becoming theories after many more such experiments
with similar results.
"Science is a collection of questions,” said Branzei.
Branzei’s questions led from a new way to teach science
to a best-selling book series to interactive museum exhibits
based on those books.
Kids and families will likely leave the Grossology exhibit
with questions of their own about the human body. Even if
they do not follow up on those questions, they will remember
the feeling of so many of Branzei’s own students and
readers: “science is fun.”
Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body is currently
on display at Omaha Children’s Museum. More information
is available by visiting www.OCM.org or by calling (402) 342-6164.
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Grossology's
Return Brings Back Sponsors, too
It’s no secret that Grossology
is back at OCM! But you may not know that its local sponsors
returned with it: Children’s Hospital and Cox Communications.
Previously, the museum hosted the smaller version from December
2002 – May 2003. Grossology helped increase museum attendance
to 86,093 during the exhibit timeframe, thanks in part to
its sponsors.
"It’s a brave organization that will put its name
and reputation next to an exhibit like Grossology,”
said Lindy Hoyer, executive director of OCM. "We’re
doubly grateful to Children’s Hospital and Cox Communications
for doing that twice.”
This time, both Children’s Hospital and Cox Communications
returned as sponsors, but they have been joined by others:
Douglas County Board of Commissioners, Commercial Federal,
Qwest Foundation and Star 104.5.
"At Children’s Hospital, we’re always looking
for ways to communicate with children. The Grossology exhibit
is a fun way to teach children about their bodies,”
said Gary A. Perkins, president and CEO of Children’s
Hospital, Grossology’s “Burpy” Leadership
Sponsor.
"At Cox Communications, our main community relations
focus is on youth and education,” said Gordon Krentz,
community outreach specialist for Cox Communications, Grossology’s
Media Sponsor. “The Omaha Children’s Museum’s
Grossology exhibit is a perfect match.”
Douglas County Board of Commissioners supported the exhibit
as a "Slimy” Sustaining Sponsor and Commercial
Federal joined as a “Stinky” Supporting Sponsor.
"As a long-time supporter of OCM, Commercial Federal
Bank has been very pleased with the programming that they
offer,” said Roger Lewis, senior vice president and
director of marketing for Commercial Federal Bank, “Grossology
was very popular the first time and it’s a lot of fun.”
Douglas County sponsored the exhibit through its Visitor Improvement
Fund, which provides support for attractions in Omaha to help
draw more visitors to the city.
"The increase in support clearly shows that this museum
continues to re-engage the community and its leaders with
popular and education exhibitions and programming,”
said Hoyer.
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Giving
Back to OCM Helps All in Return
by, Kristen Ostenso, Development Associate
Omaha Children’s Museum
is a key resource in the community, providing our youngest
citizens the opportunity to grow and learn in a museum built
especially for children. The support of our donors and members
touches the lives of children every day, inspiring them to
open their minds through creativity and play.
It is because of the generous support of donors this past
year that OCM was able to grow and accomplish so many goals,
which include:
- OCM welcomed 191,000 visitors,
making OCM the third most visited attraction in Omaha.
- OCM received the 2005 Association
of Science and Technology Center’s (ASTC) Roy L. Shafer
Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience for our continual
effort to provide educational exhibits and programs throughout
the community.
l OCM facilitated 456 school fieldtrips, representing schools
from the region and over 15,000 students.
- OCM hosted three nationally
acclaimed traveling exhibits to enhance visitor experience:
Invention at Play, Five Friends From Japan and Grossology,
The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body.
With your help, OCM can ensure
that in our upcoming 30th year, we will make an even bigger
impact on the community. By supporting OCM through our annual
appeal, you help us continue to offer exciting, new traveling
exhibits and special events and reach more classrooms through
educational outreach programs. For more information regarding
the OCM annual appeal and how to make a contribution, please
contact Kristen Ostenso at (402) 342-6164, ext.420 or kostenso@ocm.org.
Discovering
Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall
You can walk like a chimp, talk like a chimp,
hang out in a chimp nest, even "fish" out termites
for a high protein chimp snack. And relive the discoveries
of famed primatologist Jane Goodall in a replica of her Gombe
Research Station.
Media Sponsors
Get all dressed up and celebrate the New Year with us. Come
make your own masquerade mask, dance the night away under
the disco ball with Shari Stone of Lite 101.9, and enjoy a
slice of Sam and Louie’s New York Style pizza.
At this year’s party the museum will debut the OCM Short
Line. Children will delight in these new kid-powered train
cars that go around and around a child-size track. Then, they
can jump into the New Year in an inflatable bounce house.
Kids can also see a performance of the Adair Dance Academy,
make a special craft and meet Prof. Nigel Nose-it-all and
other costumed characters in person.
At 8 p.m., museum guests will count down to the New Year and
celebrate 2006 with the Bubble Wrap Stomp.
 Tickets:
$8 for member
adults and children; $12 for non-member adults and children:
Free for all children under 24 months.
December
Sponsor of the Month
 Omaha
Steaks, founded in 1927, is an Omaha, Nebraska-based, family-owned
company that markets and distributes a wide variety of the
finest quality USDA-approved, grain-fed Midwestern beef and
other gourmet foods. Today, Omaha Steaks is recognized as
the nation's largest direct response marketer of premium Midwestern
beef, available to customers by calling 1-800-228-9055, online
at www.omahasteaks.com
or at one of our more than 65 retail stores nationwide. There
are four store locations in Omaha— Tower Plaza at 78th
and Dodge, 96th an J, Lakeside Shopping Center at 173rd and
West Center Road and Eppley Airfield.
January Sponsor of the
Month
Kiewit is the nation's 7th largest general contractor and
a top ten producer of coal, with mines located on Montana,
Wyoming, and Texas. Many of the company's projects fill the
Omaha skyline, including the Tower at First National Center
and the Qwest Center Omaha. Headquartered in Omaha since its
founding in 1884, Kiewit currently has construction projects
in 26 states and six Canadian provinces.
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