In partnership with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD), the Museum debuted Inspire: Reach Every Child in fall 2012. Through this program, every second-grade student visits the Museum for a full day of experiential learning. Designed in collaboration between Museum educators and CMSD staff, Inspire is integrated into CMSD's science curriculum and meets Ohio's Academic Content Standards in science.
Using Museum specimens and exhibits, Inspire focuses on interactions between living and extinct organisms and their habitats. Throughout the day, students, teachers, and chaperones spend time in our classrooms and galleries. Teachers are empowered to extend the experience beyond the day at the Museum with lesson plans, activity ideas, and additional resources.
The program is intended to have a broad and far-reaching impact beyond the students' on-site visits. In the three-and-a-half-hour visit, students are exposed to hands-on activities, live native Ohio animals, and a curriculum designed to get the students excited about science while connecting them to the past, present, and future of our region. Inspire engages students and teachers with science in a unique and dynamic way that leaves them eager for more and sets the stage for long-term scientific literacy.
Every student who attends an Inspire session gets the opportunity to bring his or her family back to the Museum at no cost. This gives the students a chance to reinforce their experience by becoming the teacher as they take their families through the Museum. Providing this opportunity for intergenerational learning strengthens the program's impact by engaging families and the community, effectively doubling its effectiveness over the long term.
In keeping with our mission, Inspire is designed to build a foundation for highly effective science education in our community.