FAMILY Magazine Publisher Brenda Hyde and Dr. Nancy Simon from the U.S. Geological Survey

On Tuesday, May 24, nearly 200 people gathered at the Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Virginia for the Children's Science Center's Founders Breakfast, a fundraiser to support the center's programs and planned museum.  In keeping with our concept of "For Kids, By Kids," our child ambassadors played a large part in the event.  They greeted guests, designed and built Lego table centerpieces, and distributed small gifts to all of the guests, a magnet with a Lego piece, inviting guests to "Build With Us," which was the theme of the event.

Brenda Hyde, board member and publisher of Washington FAMILY Magazine was the master of ceremonies.  Her introduction included facts about the 50 fastest growing companies in Virginia.  39 are in Northern Virginia, and 87% are in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) related fields.   She contrasted that fact with reported figures that only 14.7 percent of earned bachelor's degrees in Virginia were awarded in STEM fields in 2010, a steady decline since 1986, following the national trend.  Brenda said, "We have an engineering crisis."

Nene Spivy, chair of the board, stated that we need to reach children before they decide that they don't like science or math.  She shared with guests the vision for the Children Science Center, which includes programs such as lab programs, camps and parties with cool STEM themes like Science of Sports and Chemistry Divas, as well as a Little Scientist Series for our pre-K learners, and SOL-linked school programs for our elementary students.  The Children's Science Center will also offer the STEM Youth Leadership Initiative, for youth volunteers, interns and advisors.  Nene said, "The opportunities for children growing up with the Children's Science Center are endless."

Guest speakers Dr. Nancy S. Simon of the U.S. Geological Survey and Principal Olivia Toatley of Hunters Woods Elementary School shared their stories of how they or children they know were inspired by regular access to informal learning.  Because of those early sparks, they chose STEM careers.  Other testimonial speakers who presented via video included William H. Gary, sr. vice president, Workforce Development Northern Virginia Community College, J.J. Newby Ketzle, president of JLNV, Sharon Bulova, chairman of the Fairfax County, Virginia Board of Supervisors, Angie Bryner, teacher at Cornerstone Montessori and Drs. Amy Alving and Gulu Gambhir of SAIC.  One guest said, "The speakers were second to none!" 

Founder's Breakfast guests enjoyed learning more about the Children's Science Center from our exhibits.

Children's science museums offer powerful and popular informal learning environments because they are designed to reach kids in the ways they learn best, through hands-on, play based learning and yet, Northern Virginia is the largest metropolitan area without one.  The reception of this message was overwhelming.  The event raised over $220,000 in gifts and pledges in support of the project.  Another guest commented, "It's so nice to be involved with a project that is so inspiring.  I felt good coming in today and I feel great leaving."   We are very grateful to all of our donors for helping us begin this journey towards a permanent museum and thank everyone who came to hear more about our project.

Every spring hundreds of children's museum professionals gather to learn and share from their experiences in educating and inspiring young minds all over the world.  This year's conference was in Houston, Texas and the theme was Innovation Is Child's Play.  Houston is a city of innovation in many ways; beyond inventing indoor baseball and Astroturf, the city is also home to the number 1 (per Parents.com) children's museum in the country.  

This year's conference objective was to present the cutting-edge experiences at children's museums, how informal learning is inspiring healthy risk, and why play is the foundation for innovative thinking.  There were over five dozen sessions, museum study tours and workshops.  We took part in the full-day emerging museums workshop as well as regular sessions:  "Where Good Ideas Come From" hosted by author Steven B. Johnson, "Moving From Nice To Necessary", "The Art and Science of Learning" and more.  The Children's Science Center also met with multiple firms specializing in children's museum planning and design with an eye towards our future.  The conference included a tour of the Children's Museum of Houston which was ideal because, like us, their Museum is very much focused on Math and Science and the use of technology to enable great visitor experiences.  The museum has an amazing "Invention Convention" where visitors can create and experiment with their own inventions as well as multiple hands on labs integrated seamlessly into exhibits about Health, Energy, and Communications, not to mention the opportunity to witness chicks hatching real-time at their Eco-Station.  Museum educators use handheld Ipads to facilitate deeper visitor learning on the spot.  

Attending this industry conference directly supports our vision to build a world class children's science museum for our community.  Each year we gain essential knowledge and establish critical contacts with other museums and industry professionals that greatly assist our efforts in bringing a children's museum to Northern Virginia.  Like the Children's Science Center, The Association of Children's Museums and its members are dedicated to developing our children's 21st century learning skills, enabling them to be the innovative leaders we need for the future.  We look forward to fostering innovative child's play on a regular basis for the children of Northern Virginia.