NORMAL – The 25th anniversary of a local business in uptown isn’t the only thing that has them celebrating.
The Children’s Discovery Museum has been awarded a pair of grants by the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation (IPCF) last month. They have also received grants from PNC and State Farm.
The money from the grants will help remove the obstacles preventing students from taking part in the educational programs offered by the museum.
“The Mission of the museum is to inspire the love of learning through the power of play,” said Education Manager Rachel Carpenter. “We know that not everyone is able to access our institutions in the same way due to financial barriers or time barriers.”
Carpenter added that they take pride in what they do as part of their mission.
“It’s wonderful that they (PNC) continue to see the value in the great program that we provide to our area childhood students.”
Grants received by the Children’s Discovery Museum are:
State Farm Grant ($20,000): allows them a partnership with the Unity Community Center to offer STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) content for their after-school program.
PNC Grant ($40,000): allows them to collaborate with Heartland Head Start and Unit-5 Early Learning Program to teach 650 preschoolers STEAM topics in a fun and interactive way.
IPCF Mirza Arts and Culture Grant ($1,500) & IPCF General Grant ($2,300): allows them to partner with Boys & Girls club to provide STEAM learning, and offer free art programing with University Galleries.
The workshop provided by the IPCF grants will happen in Uptown Normal until May 2020.
An educational journey 25 years in the making helps make the museum a unique place to be in a town called Normal.