Abstract
Once a museum without walls, the KID museum is a place where everything is meant to be touched. KID offers unique, maker experiences for elementary and middle school-aged children that integrate hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) learning with an exploration of world cultures and global citizenship. The museum has four focus areas or studios including woodworking, textiles, electronics, and a fabrication lab. KID Museum's current site at Davis Library in Bethesda, Maryland provides schools and the wider community with programs and workshops during the school day, on weekends, after-school, and in the summer. It is a first step toward the museum's vision of a larger, permanent home in Montgomery County, focused on empowering the next generation to invent the future with creativity and compassion. Programming in the space is designed, developed, and facilitated by KID Museum's educators. KID Museum's educational approach blends formal and informal learning by intersecting STEAM principles with hands-on learning. It also supports public and private school educators in their endeavors to lead quality maker learning experiences in the classroom. KID Museum has developed unique partnerships, including with Montgomery County Public Schools, the 18th largest system in the US, to meet the needs of underrepresented populations. With an eye to the future, KID Museum expects to leave the Davis Library and will open a new, larger, 50,000 to 60,000 square foot museum that will serve 250,000 visitors per year. However, situated in a well-to-do Bethesda, Maryland neighborhood, the museum is challenged with meeting the needs of underrepresented populations due to location and costs associated with running the space. This chapter explores KID Museum.
TopOrganization Background
At its core, maker learning equips kids with the skills to create something of their own design, challenging them to figure out what’s necessary to bring their ideas to life. It feeds the sense of agency that is missing in many of our traditional school settings. - Cara Lesser, KID Museum Founder
… and see that genuine respect being elevated between parent and child or parent towards child … sometimes parents come in and they feel like, “Well, I'm not an expert in this. How can I show my kid how to do that?” But then when they understand that they can learn from their child too, that changes the dynamic of the relationship. - Claire Cocciole
Settled in a well-to-do neighborhood of Bethesda, in Montgomery County, Maryland, is KID Museum, a youth and family focused educational makerspace. The museum occupies 7,500 square feet in the lower floor of Montgomery County’s Davis Library and was officially opened in October 2014. The museum has 13 full-time employees and a part-time staff of 20, whose hours total over 7 FTEs. Prior to moving into the Davis Library, it was a museum without walls with a small and committed volunteer staff, organizing events such as Maker Faire Silver Spring and the World of Montgomery Festival.
The current space that the museum occupies is in the lower level of the Davis Library, which historically was underused as a library space, mostly for storage and special collection for the library system. Once the Montgomery County found a permanent space for their special collections the lower level of Davis sat mostly unused. At the same time as the space was going unused, the Montgomery County Council Executive wanted to bring a STEM and making program to the county and was very supportive of what the KID Museum was doing, even before they had a physical location. Cocciole, Director of Maker and Community Partnerships, stated that their very first Maker Faire (2013) in the county brought in roughly 10,000 participants, almost double what they had expected and introduced the DC metropolitan region to the energy and excitement of the “maker movement.” With this early success and apparent demand, it was clear the museum had inroads to establishing a space in the community. By building on the excitement of Maker Faire, and with the County’s support, KID Museum has been able to expand the reach of their programs. Getting established was not always easy as Cocciole recalled:
They didn't know the word 'making' when we introduced it, and so now they know what making is, and they know what it gives them, and so we had that track record going when we came into the space. We still had to make a lot of connections for community, “What are you going to do? Are you going to solder?” So, there was some of that, and we tried to be respectful of our neighbors. We tried to invite local communities who we worked with. There's an elementary school just a block away. We tried to work with the PTA, “Hey, we're coming,” and we wanted to work with the children and families, and, you know, we're open. So, we did a lot of that. The library was a little bit, you know, it's their space, and they were concerned like, “You're there, you're not paying. What are you going to do?” But they've been great to work with. We've been really lucky to have them as a partner.
Cocciole also recalls community members questioning the need for another museum in the DC area. The KID Museum had to convince the community and stakeholders that what they were doing was much different to what happens in typical museums. What they proposed was a museum where visitors are expected to touch and interact with everything. The museum is a place for STEM education through explicit tactile learning experiences, using tools and equipment. It was important in the beginning for the space to get that point across. Another factor in founding the museum is their location near the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIH, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the leading medical research agency in the U.S. and is charged with improving health and saving lives (NIH, n.d.). Founded in 1901, NIST is one of the oldest physical science laboratories in the U.S. and supports the development of many technological innovations (NIST, n.d.). In addition, NASA Goddard and many other federal agencies, helped KID cultivate relationships with STEM expert volunteers who work closely with the museum’s educators to help the organization achieve its goal of family STEAM engagement.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Institute of Museums and Library Services (IMLS): A US federal agency that provides library grants, museum grants, policy development, and research.
Bethesda, Maryland: A neighborhood located in southern Montgomery County, Maryland.
Maker Education Initiative (Maker Ed): A us non-profit organization to support maker education.
STEAM: Science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.
Montgomery County’s Davis Library: Public library located in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Open Build: A program at KID Museum that allows youth to choose projects to make.
KID Museum: Makerspace located in Bethesda, Maryland.
National Institute of Health (NIH): Is the leading medical research agency in the U.S. and is charged with improving health and saving lives.
Title I: A US Department of Education program to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies and public schools with high numbers or percentages of poor children.
Mini-Makers Program: A program at KID Museum for younger makers.
Maker Educators: Educators at the KID Museum trained in many different disciplines.
Maker Studio Program: A program at KID Museum with three distinct levels for tools and processes in each of the four studios.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): Is one of the oldest physical science laboratories in the U.S. and supports the development of many technological innovations.
Open Explore Program: A Kim Museum program on the weekends consisting of 8-10 interactive learning stations.