October 2020 -The U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) recently announced $13,800,000 in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Grants to support the role of museums and libraries in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. The SEE Science Center was proud to receive the only award given to a New Hampshire museum.  Of the over 1700 submissions, only 68 projects from museums and libraries were awarded funding – only nine of these were awarded to science centers, five to children’s museums.

The award-winning project was titled “Creating Flexible Field Trips: Reopening Programming by Designing for Uncertainty during the COVID-19 Pandemic”.  It’s aim is to have the Science Center transform its traditional in-person field trips into multiple additional formats.  The new formats include virtual, kit and outreach programs. This will provide much needed flexibility for students and teachers. The funding will also allow the Science Center to conduct rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of these new program delivery models. The goal – to create a roadmap to ensure that the lessons learned through this pandemic can help improve educational offerings long after the pandemic has passed.

“We are grateful that IMLS recognized the importance of this work and are excited to continue to serve students throughout New Hampshire,” said Executive Director, Shana Hawrylchak. “We are hopeful that through conscious efforts, like this one, we can improve the tools available to educators in New Hampshire and across the country. New Hampshire is a diverse state with both densely populated and rural regions. If we are able to find new and effective ways to reach children now, we will come out of this pandemic with the ability to drastically improve our offerings to students across the State.”

For a full description of programs offered for schools visit our Educator’s pages.