The McLean grant will fund a year-long, multi-pronged project titled “Using the Museum Experience to Enrich Learning.” It will equip teachers with educational resources to use the museum in educating their students. The $10,000 will defray the transportation costs of class visits to the museum and finance a museum-specific resource book for grades K-5. The museum is hiring a credentialed teacher to develop the book this summer. Museum Director Melissa Zielinski said the book’s content and activities probably will center on such subjects as comparisons of herbivores and carnivores and looking for tide pool adaptations. Book-guided activities will differ for each grade.
The grant also will finance three teacher workshops, focused on using the museum to teach science, and the production and distribution of a pre-trip museum orientation DVD. The bus funds, workshops and DVDs will be available during the 2008-2009 school year.
“The Natural History Museum has been a popular field trip destination since opening in 1989,” Zielinski said. “Many teachers bring their classes for school programs that are presented here, on topics ranging from insects to dinosaurs. Museum educators use live animals, skits, authentic artifacts and small groups to make natural science come alive for students. Other classes visit and participate in special activities designed by their own teachers, based on museum exhibits. School field trips to the museum acquaint children with our unique learning environment, which reinforces and supplements their learning at school.”
Of the McLean grant, Zielinski commented, “I’m so excited to make the museum as useful and relevant as possible to Humboldt County teachers and students. It is a great local resource and I want all teachers to know what they have available here.”
Fortuna’s Melvin F. and Grace McLean Foundation was created in 1999 on the death of Mel McLean, who was founder and owner of Eel River Sawmills. The foundation directs substantial sums to projects that support children and youth, as well as the elderly and health and medical needs. Since 2000, it has given more than $3.9 million to non-profit and governmental organizations in Humboldt County.