Children’s Discovery Museum plans programs, courses with nearly $40,000 in grants

Museum
Grants from The CarMax Foundation, State Farm and Creativity Garden will allow the museum to provide more afterschool programs and courses to McLean County students. (WJBC File Photo)

By Andy Dahn

BLOOMINGTON – The CarMax Foundation, Creativity Garden and State Farm have combined to give nearly $40,000 in grants to The Children’s Discovery Museum in Normal.

Development Coordinator with the museum Teresa Decker said the money will be used for afterschool programs and a variety of courses for students.

“We’re not just boosting their education content with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) courses,” Decker said. “We’re also helping them develop skills that they will use in their careers in the future.”

Decker added that approximately 1,000 students at 16 locations in McLean County will have the opportunity to participate in free STEAM courses through the grants. Another 1,000 youth and teens in kindergarten through ninth grade will be able to work with the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington-Normal for the Afterschool STEAM Program.

The museum also plans to use some of the grant money to partner with UNITY Community Center and Illinois State University.

Andy Dahn can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…