Over the last decade, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science has become one of the premier attractions in downtown Dallas, with marvelous displays of prehistoric life and a broad array of innovative and engaging interactive exhibits. However, the Perot Museum is more than just a destination. Through a variety of community partners and outreach programs, the museum also works to foster creativity and hands-on learning experiences while simultaneously encouraging the growth of STEM-related education initiatives.
“The Perot Museum is focused on breaking down barriers to education resources by finding ways to engage the community and build meaningful relationships,” says Chief Learning Officer Dr. Jessica Chavez. “Whether it’s offering our summer camps off-site or partnering with the State Fair of Texas to train educators, we are committed to investing in the future STEM workforce for North Texas.”
As the Perot Museum celebrates its 10th anniversary, it is partnering with Children’s Health, UT Southwestern and numerous community-based organizations to offer a robust and diverse roster of summer activities to appeal to North Texans of all ages. And its 10th anniversary media partner, NBC5, has been critical in helping to spread the word.
“For 10 years, the museum has been firmly rooted in our mission to inspire minds through nature and science,” says Dr. Linda Silver, the Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer of the Perot Museum. “With an innovative approach and talented team of passionate educators, the museum is always pursuing engaging and creative ways to ensure that, although school is out for the summer break, STEM learning continues to thrive in North Texas.”
This summer, the museum’s team of educators are popping up in communities across North Texas. Whether at community centers, offsite summer camps fairs and back-to-school events, be on the lookout for the Perot Museum.
Here’s all that’s happening this summer:
Discovery Camp
Discovery Camp is conducted year-round at the museum and is designed to bring science to life for young campers through engaging, hands-on projects that explore a variety of topics. Thanks to Children’s Health sponsorship, this summer, the museum is implementing Discovery Camp on the Road, which will bring the hugely popular Summer Camp series out into the community with four weeks of programs at CityScape Schools and another four weeks of programs at For Oak Cliff, all at no cost to families.
By taking camps off-site, the museum can break down access barriers such as transportation and enrollment costs to STEM learning, and inspire more minds through nature and science.
In addition to the off-site summer camp programs, the Museum will continue to offer the on-site summer camps. For registration information for on-site camp, please visit perotmuseum.org.
TECH Trucks
The museum’s beloved STEM mobile maker labs are also hitting the road this summer. The TECH Trucks are mobile discovery labs that allow participants to tinker, engineer, create and hack right in their own neighborhoods. The goal of this innovative program is to engage young people and their families in hands-on science, technology and engineering experiences that foster creativity during out-of-school time. Since 2015, TECH Trucks has served more than 281,000 participants, and many more will be reached this summer, especially in under-served communities.
Community Partners
To make the museum even more accessible to all this summer, members of the museum’s learning team will distribute Community Partners family memberships that give qualifying families a complimentary yearlong membership, allowing them access to the museum and all membership programming.
This initiative is made possible through support the museum has received from numerous nonprofit organizations in the North Texas area, including Dallas ISD, Dallas Police Department UNIDOS Program, Mexican Consulate, North Texas Food Bank, Uplift Education and Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center.
To date, more than 7,000 Community Partner memberships have been redeemed.
Additionally, the Perot Museum is also launching a partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center, in which UTSW pediatric residents will distribute Community Partner memberships through Parkland clinics and admission desks. Residents will have QR codes they can use to give families access to the membership program.
Training the Trainer
Also launching this summer, this new initiative will focus on increasing teachers’ STEM toolboxes. Working in partnership with the State Fair of Texas, the Perot Museum will conduct training sessions with about nine Dallas-based organizations in South Dallas. The purpose of these workshops is to increase their knowledge of methodologies for teaching STEM courses, so they can impart new skills to colleagues in their respective schools. During the course of the sessions, participants will also learn more about the Perot Museum’s resources and how to leverage them to enhance students’ science learning and their overall academic experiences.
Ongoing museum attractions
In addition to its array of summer outreach activities, the Perot Museum will be open daily, offering the public 11 state-of-the-art exhibit halls to explore, while providing amaze-your-brain moments designed to spark interest in STEM subjects and careers.
To learn more about the Perot Museum’s exhibits and upcoming events, visit perotmuseum.org.