MID-AMERICA SCIENCE MUSEUM OFFICIAL PLANS SUMMER OFFERINGS
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.—Jeremy Mackey is settling into his role as director of education for MidAmerica Science Museum just in time for the summer season.
Mackey, who has worked in customer service for 20 years and holds a degree in environmental chemistry, said he worked as a part-time educator at the museum for three months before moving into a management role. He works closely with Executive Director Diane LaFollette, Chief Operating Officer Noreen Killen and Chief Development Officer Harmony Morrissey to “focus on what the museum is going to offer in the future.”
“So whether that’s new programming, new class offerings, camp scheduling, professional development,” he said. “Really it’s trying to lead the museum in a specific direction, with respect to education. Trying to balance everything that goes along with that. Like I said, I’m still trying to learn everything. It’s been a steep learning curve so far.”
Since starting in early April, the main focus he said has been on the Oaklawn Foundation DinoTrek, a permanent outdoor dinosaur exhibit that will take guests to the museum around the premises, the Hot Springs Sentinel Record reported.
“The Oaklawn Foundation DinoTrek is going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s not only going to be fun, but there’s a lot of education that’s going along with that. Obviously, the self-guided tour has got a lot of information, and we’ve been working with paleontologists to make sure that we have all our information right, so that’s been really fun.
“And then also we’re designing tinkers in the Alliance Rubber Company Tinkering Studio, and some camps around the DinoTrek. Even some classes in the near future that schools can buy that we’re going to be able to do. So we’re trying to use that exhibit to its fullest capacity.”
To stay current as education continues to evolve, Mackey said the education team at the museum updates its offerings each year in various ways.
“We update our classes every year, but we’re going to start offering new classes coming down the pike,” he said. “We’re incorporating not only the next generation’s science standards, but there’s going to be some computer science standards so there are going to be some new classes that are a little more technical. Maybe robotics. Maybe Arduino. I don’t really know, that’s all kind of up to the education team as we work toward that stuff. There are going to be some new class offerings and we’re going to be updating our current classes to make sure that we stay current and stay on the cutting edge of informal education.”
Through the work of education coordinator, Audrey Pipher, Mackey said the museum’s education team is also able to offer more tailored educational opportunities for local schools.