The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rome nonprofit lays groundwork for new children’s museum
Focus now is fundraising, drumming up community interest.
The Children’s Museum of Rome: Right now, it’s a concept. But sometime in the next few years, it could be a physical reality.
That’s if the community continues to push forward on the initiative together, according to Jenna Bosarge and Mark Suroviec, two of the project’s key players.
Bosarge and her husband, Daniel, brought the idea back to Rome after visiting a children’s museum in South Florida about a year ago. Daniel Bosarge and Suroviec network together in a group for Rome business owners.
“So, we were in our Rome business group meeting, and Daniel kind of waves his hand and says, ‘Hey, my wife and I would like to start this museum, but we need some board members. Is anyone interested?’ And as soon as I heard the idea, I was like, ‘Yes,’” Suroviec recalled to the Rome News-Tribune.
By June, the project was an incorporated nonprofit, and by September, there was a full board of directors in place — including Suroviec as vice president, Jenna Bosarge as president and Daniel Bosarge as treasurer — for a total of a dozen community members from various nonprofits and industries.
And Suroviec said they’re open to expanding the board further to “passionate people.”
What’s in a museum?
The museum will incorporate local elements into a mix of about 20 permanent, temporary and rotating exhibits geared toward children ages 2 to 12.
“We would love to see exhibits that really tell the story of Rome,” Jenna said. “Like, what makes Rome so great? We want kids to be able to visit a little mini replica of the clock tower and play with water tables that are shaped like the three rivers and just really get to experience what makes Rome, Rome.”
Construction plans include a 15,000-square-foot facility, and organizers are scouting sites now. Forward momentum, Jenna said, depends on fundraising and the setting of an actual budget — things which will occur simultaneously as the project develops. Groundbreaking, Jenna said, could happen sometime between 2025 and 2026.
Board members realize it’s a bold timeline.
“Obviously, a big part of that is dependent on the pace at which we get corporate sponsorships and donations,” Suroviec said. “We have a very ambitious internal goal.”
STEAM-based learning pop-ups
But Romans won’t have to wait for some museuminspired interactive activities.
“One of the things we talked about from the very beginning is we don’t want to wait until the museum is built and open before we start serving the kids and families of Rome,” Suroviec said.
To that end, the organization has begun scheduling pop-up appearances at area functions to give the community a preview of exhibits that might factor in to the museum one day.
A Crafty Christmas event allowed local kids to make holiday crafts, have breakfast and get a photo with Santa. Another pop-up at the RomeFloyd County YMCA BooFest in October offered an interactive obstacle course and a Plinko board that factored into kids’ Halloween candy selection process.
“We are focused on incorporating STEAM-based learning, which is the science, technology, engineering, arts and math, into all of our projects and exhibits. And so, we really try to focus on bringing that aspect to our events,” Jenna said.
Community involvement opportunities
For Suroviec, owner of WorkPlay Solutions, a local professional development firm, the museum is an opportunity to blend years of experiential learning, working with children and “all the business things that I’ve learned in the last 10 years.”
“I’m a big fan of play, big fan of education,” he said. “When we think about the why — why does Rome need a children’s museum — we want to tell folks that our kids need a safe place to learn, play and explore our community. And that’s kind of the statement that we’re working off of.”
Right now, fundraising is the focus, along with groundwork for a capital campaign and determination of sponsorship levels. Financial donations are welcome, Suroviec said, but the organization is also working on building its volunteer base.
“As folks want to volunteer for these smaller events on the way, we’re open to that,” he said, adding that would-be volunteers will be background checked.
The Rome Children’s Museum currently has a social media presence and a mailing list — it’s all a part of drawing the community into the process, Suroviec said.
“One of our core values is community partnerships,” he said. “We can’t do this on our own … we want to build this together with Rome.”
Despite social shifts during the pandemic, Sawyer Road Elementary School has intentionally worked to reconnect families and community partners, said Majid Bassery, a parent-community liaison with Marietta City Schools.
The school had never hosted a dance and a dance “seemed like the perfect way to connect a student population with language barriers because 40% of our students are non-English speakers,” Bassery said.
The “Boogie Wonder Ball” planning started with the school’s annual theme.
“Our principal, Susan Graves, selects a theme for the school each year, and this year the theme is ‘Groovy.’ The word naturally lent itself to a ’70s party dance, complete with costumes,” Bassery said.
The committee tried to emulate the word’s connotation of “excellent and cool” into the overall dance approach.
“We had a long span of time during and after the pandemic when families were unable to enter the school building,” he said. “Now we are working on ways to reconnect in addition to our growing social media and our fall event.”
Erika and Ty Madgett own Photo Booth Atlanta and donated a ’70s-themed photo booth for photos. Aisha Lawrence owns a balloon art company and donated decorations to complement the disco balls, fog machine and disc jockey.
“Everything chosen was to emphasize bright, shiny colors and make the dance fun for the kids and their parents,” said Bassery, sporting a metallic shirt.
A big hit were the glow sticks sold by Sparkles at Kennesaw, which donated part of the profits to the school. Two churches also helped sponsor the dance: Wright Street Baptist Church and HOPE Worldwide — North River Church. Bassery said support from Marietta Power and Water also was helpful.
While all of the students and many of the parents were born long after the 1970s, some of the classic songs have lived on and still provided fun. The event raised $1,200.