Longview World of Wonders Provides Hands-On Discovery

 

The woman of the twenty-first century often wears many hats. Mine include wife, mom, educator, gardener, leader, volunteer, accountant, chef, planner, story teller, wonder woman and currently, facilities chairman of Longview World of Wonders, a children’s hands-on discovery center in the making.

 

Longview World of Wonders:

Over the past four years, LongviewWOW, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, has operated as a museum without walls serving East Texas children and their families in educational and hands-on programming featuring literary works, STEM, dramatic arts, LEGO ™ and more. In a city, in which there is a large population of children in poverty, LongviewWOW hopes to inspire a life-long love of learning by giving children the opportunity to imagine, create and explore in a hands-on educational environment.

I began volunteering for LongviewWOW in 2011, after moving to Longview from Virginia Beach. After living on both coasts of the United States, moving to East Texas didn’t seem quite as exciting. Our little city surprised me though with it museums, theaters and festivals. One afternoon, while skimming through the newspaper, my eyes landed upon an article about an organization hoping to bring a children’s museum to Longview. Sign me up!

 

 

It didn’t take long to get my feet wet. I began helping on numerous programs, serving on the Board of Directors and even dreaming a bit along the way. By October of 2011, I was devising my first program event Camp Half-Blood: World of Percy Jackson. We had swords, an oracle and even a quest to find the missing Persephone taken captive by Hades. The kids loved it! And, I was hooked.

 

 

Providing STEM Programming:

A year past and we began fundraising for our largest event Out of This World featuring the Traveling Space Museum out of California. This would be the first time any STEM related programming, open to the public, was featured in Longview. It would also mark the beginning of believing our mission could and would succeed.

This year, we signed our contract to purchase a history-laden building downtown and have begun construction. It is an amazing building with exposed brick walls and a staggering 18,000 square feet. At one time, it was a fire house, a dime store and a furniture store.

 

 

As a novice in museum building, I’m learning daily. I remember one of my first conversations with our architect, Jim Hugman. He used all sorts of construction lingo and all I could do was smile and nod. Now, I know exactly what he and his crew are talking about; I understand terms and blueprints and even speak construction, myself. Who knew I’d learn a foreign language this year, too?

 

Last week, I had the absolute pleasure of unpacking over 40,000 LEGO™ bricks for our upcoming exhibit Build It! a free-build zone for children of all ages. In addition, children will be able to create and build race cars from LEGO™ bricks and test them out on a down-hill raceway.

 

 

Phase I includes Energy City:

Another exhibit opening in Phase I is Energy City, a hands-on learning environment featuring different types of energy sources found in the East Texas region and how those sources interact with one another. Modules in this exhibit include a power plant, an alternative energy farm and market, a coal mine, a hydroelectric water table, a Hands-On-House, a café and more. I helped create this exhibit and cannot wait to see it take form.

 

Phase II:

During Phase II, possible future exhibits include Heritage Hall (an early childhood exhibit), the Invention Garage (focusing on physics) and a section open for traveling exhibits, temporary exhibits, a classroom and more.

 

Exhibit Concepts Helps Realize Our Dreams:

Next week, I meet with Exhibit Concepts, our exhibit design, fabrication and installation firm out of Ohio. Exhibit Concepts has designed museums and exhibits throughout the country, with most of their work occurring in Texas. Some of their recent jobs in the state include Frontier Texas and Moody Gardens. I look forward to seeing the actual renderings of our vision and watching our dreams become a reality.

Our facility has a projected expense of 1.9 million dollars. We are currently seeking additional funding for our capital campaign through private and corporate donors. We hope to form partnerships with educational facilities and encourage school groups to visit yearly.

We’ve got about a year until completion. During this time, we will still continue our educational programming. At the end of last month, I held a program at Ellis Garden Center called The Secret Garden and based off the literary novel. Children created flower presses, painted nature using watercolors, sculpted the infamous robin out of clay, learned how to make paper and even planted their own garden.  LongviewWOW’s future events include a partnership with the Texas Shakespeare Festival (World of William) and a LEGO™ building contest (World of Wind).

Life is always interesting. You never know where you may be taken or what you journey you may find yourself upon. I didn’t expect to discover such an amazing organization and group of people when I moved to East Texas. I’m thankful they’ve allowed me to hone my talents and skills into something fruitful. I look forward to the day when we open those doors and invite the children of our community to imagine, create and explore.

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