The Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery is seeking project funding from Cause Connector to support OVMoD On the Road: a program for children and youth to build STEM confidence and support future workforce development. The museum’s educational programming actively engages individuals with diverse interests, abilities, and life experiences by utilizing an interdisciplinary (STEAM) approach.

OVMoD On the Road delivers mobile museum field trips, children’s engagement at local community events, free-to-the-public museum workshop programs, and summer camp activities throughout southeast Ohio. Out of school learning opportunities like museum field trips and school STEM nights are a vital part of child and youth development, sparking curiosity through hands-on exploration and encouraging children to be life-long learners. Positive experiences with the sciences can help to introduce pathways to STEM careers.

An anticipated 1000 children, youth, and their families from a four-county region (Athens, Meigs, Hocking, and Vinton Counties) will participate in OVMoD On the Road programs throughout 2022. Many of these students have not experienced museum field trips or other out-of-school learning opportunities due to pandemic restrictions. As families recover from the pandemic, OVMoD’s programming seeks to build bridges to support in-school education with out of school learning and to inspire confidence in learners to explore and discover their world. 

Providing on the road programming to families, the Ohio Valley Museum of Discovery knows that out of school learning opportunities, particularly in the field of STEM, are vital to sparking curiosity and development in children.