Is it just a fun place to spend a rainy day, or is it a place that engages young minds and nurtures them as they become happy, active citizens of the global world? Boston Children’s Museum is all of this and more. It is a place where kids and their families can discover their Curious, Creative, Healthy, Global, and Green selves.
This year Boston Children’s Museum continued to be Boston’s best place for kids and the adults in their lives as it welcomed 550,000 visitors during Fiscal Year (FY) 2009. We also said goodbye to our president and chief executive offi cer, Lou Casagrande. Throughout his 15-year tenure, Lou was an effective advocate for children and built bridges between Boston Children’s Museum and Boston’s communities. Importantly, he led the fundraising and oversaw the creation of new exhibits and the major expansion and renovation project completed in late 2007.
One of Lou Casagrande’s lasting legacies was his leadership in articulating the Museum’s program vision. Museum staff met in teams to create a program vision to help others understand the value of the Museum to the outside community. They wanted the vision to reflect that the Museum does make a difference in the lives of children in fi ve major areas:
- Visitors were encouraged to be Curious Kids and imagine a world beyond Planet Earth when the traveling exhibit Living in Space opened in May 2009.
- Every day the Museum allows kids to express themselves as Creative Kids in the Art Studio and KidStage.
- Visitors participated in a variety of GoKids! events that inspired them to be Healthy Kids. GoKids! events covered everything from summer safety and healthcare to healthy foods and fi tness.
- The Museum helped visitors become Global Kids through the wonderful traveling exhibit Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China and an array of cultural festivals including Korean Dongji, Three Kings Day, O-shogatsu, India’s Republic Day, and Pow Wow.
- Events like the Green Fairs, The Worminator, Green at Night, and Critter Days helped children become Green Kids who understand and appreciate the natural world. Annual Report, July 1, 2008-June 30, 2009
Jonathan L. Rounds, Chairman of the Board
