We love covering The Museum School events and taking student photographs. It’s a great bunch of people, staff and students included, and I’m personally invested because my son attends TMS. If you’re not familiar with it, TMS is a local innovator in education. It’s based on the concept that kids learn best through personal exploration and hands-on learning, and is one of a kind in Georgia. We recently made a couple of visits to the school to cover their Museum-in-a-Box program, a cool way in which TMS is engaging students in experiential learning.
The grant-funded program brings amazing “museum boxes” into the classroom. Each trunk-sized box centers on a specific learning unit and contains a slew of content that helps teachers bring the subject to life.
We got to see teachers and students in action during a lesson on a Susan B. Anthony museum box. The trunk spanned everything from the toys she most loved through her commitment to concepts like equality. It seemed like the best of a field trip–real world learning–without the high cost.
We also covered a workshop where TMS teachers got to see the many different museum boxes they can share with their students. I’d guess one of their biggest challenges is what to choose first!
My right-hand lady, Lyndsey Wright, captured the scene as teachers learned how to implement the museum boxes in the classroom.
If you’ve ever wondered what a stronger partnership between local schools and community organizations could look like, this program suggests one fruitful outcome. The museum boxes are only possible via partnership with Georgia Tech’s Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC); The Atlanta History Center; Zoo Atlanta; ArtsNow; Fernbank Museum of Natural History and the Georgia Aquarium.
I’m so glad we had the chance to see all of this in person because a Museum in a Box is unlike anything I’ve ever heard of…and now I’ll know what my son is talking about when he comes home raving about it!
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