Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Anticipated Venue Dates:
February-September, 1999

Greatest Places Leadership Institute (GPLI) Contact:
Colleen Blair
817-732-1631 extension 338
817-732-7635 fax
cblair@metronet.com email

Institutional Goal: Create extraordinary learning environments.

Greatest Places Action Plan Overarching Goal: Establish communication networks with internal and external stakeholders about how Greatest Places can provide learning opportunities for their audiences and constituencies.

Phase One Title: Communicate with Internal Stakeholders

Program Goals: Share Greatest Places Institute and Film Opportunities and resources with internal stakeholders. Film resource "package" consists of film, educational enhancements such as trunks, teacher guides, family guide, website; and full array of marketing material. Main question to all groups: what opportunities does this project present and how do these opportunies align with our constituents?

Internal Institutional Stakeholders:

  1. Board of Trustees
  2. Museum Management Team
  3. Full Museum Staff

Internal Program Stakeholders: Departmental

  1. Marketing/Development
  2. Special Programs
  3. Education Department
  4. Omni Theater

5. School Services

Timeline: Internal Stakeholders

Key Deadline: June, 1998 : FY1999 Budgetary Process Begins

September, 1997
1. Attend Board of Trustees meeting: 5 minute presentation of GPLI; "pioneering" and present poster to each
2. Attend Management Team meeting: 15 minutes overview presentation of GPLI and strategic planning
3. At weekly staff meeting: overview of GPLI and "post-it" exercise: What is your greatest place?
4. Set up October meetings with departments listed above

October, 1997 : Focused Departmental Meetings
1. Development/Market Meeting: focused GPLI conversations, resources and brainstorming (GPLI-CRB)
2. Education (Museum School, Camp-Ins, Science Demos, Girl Scouts) focused GPLI-CRB
3. Special Projects (Greatest Places Project Team, Volunteers) focused GPLE-CRB
4. Theater: focused GPLI-CRB
5. School Services: focused GPLI-CRB

December, 1997: Contact Minnesota: Order 2 full notebooks

February, 1998
1. Full Staff meeting presentation: GP opening report,
and schedule departmental meetings to disseminate to all stakeholders critical resources necessary for each department to plan and implement their programming.

  1. Greatest Places Special Project Team forms (Special Programs Director)

June, 1998
1. All departments have broad-brush programs planned-budgets due: June 30, 1998

Possible Departmental Programs:

1. Greatest Places Special Project Team:

  1. Omni Lobby-Rotunda Discovery Activities
    Static:

a. Panel displays enlarged maps with GP marked
b. Collections on display from GP countries, continents
Interactive, inquiry
c. Volunteer Discovery Carts with artifacts from
collection
d. "Line games: Teen volunteers and string game activity 2. Exhibit Hall Connections:
a. Greatest Places Connection Label in each hall tying hall theme to Greatest Places: (example) In Dinosaur hall: These are examples of Texas dinosaurs: here are examples of fossils or dinosaurs found in Africa (picture or object..whatever collection supports.
II. Education Department:
a. Museum School Greatest Places class
b. Girl Scout and Boy Scout Badge connection
c. Camp-ins around Greatest Places with GP activities
d. Science Demonstration currently featured programmed to add GP link (example: heat and cryogenics)

III. School Services:
a. Educator connections: Open House, Workshop, Summer Institute,
b. School Program Connections: Add GP link to current offering: Multicultural Math and Science Treks


Phase Two Title: Communication with External Stakeholders

Program Goals: Target key leaders; how can the FWMSH and Greatest Places support you, your constituents and create access to these GP programs that are naturally aligned with your mission?

Critical Date: March, 1998 Budgetary Process: Schools

Proposed External Stakeholders:

1. Statewide: Texas Geography Alliance and Texas State Systemic Inititative
2. Local Formal Education: Educational Service Center Region 11, Ft. Worth Independant School District
3. Local Youth Serving Agencies: Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Child-Care Alliances

Timeline:

August, 1997: Contact TGA: propose November meeting in Austin

September, 1997: Texas SSI/Informal Science Education Action Team: 10 minute presentation: leverage networks.

November, 1997: Meet with representatives from TGA

December, 1997: Initial Meeting local school district and Region 11 Social Studies Director: GP package and opportunities: natural links

January, 1998: Follow-up TGA: Possibilities for funding and institute

January, 1998: Meeting with Region 11:

February, 1998 Meeting with Region 11: Communication and program stategies for 600 local campuses: collaborative workshops and "getting word out" to schools and site-based decision makers that GP available in Winter, 1999.

June, 1998: Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts: Establish program links to allow for summer planning and budgeting.

Potential Outcomes and Project Alliances: Implementation: Summer 98-Summer 99

1. TGA Institute: focus GP
2. Region 11 and FWISD workshops and inservice collaborations
3. Badge programs with Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts
4. Texas SSI/collaborative Science and Social Studies TEKS conference

Phase Three: Action Plan: Communication: GPLI-Team(Colleen Blair/Lauri Sparks) Connections: Museum and School Partnerships:


Lauri Sparks Conference Presentations:
1. October, 1998: Present at TCCS (Tx Council for Social Studies Explore trunk rental

2. October, 1998: Present at TAGE (Tx Alliance for Geographic Ed)

3. March, 1999: Present at GEOTECH:

Museum Presentations: Leadership "Partnerships"

1. Inservice: Utilizing Museums to Teach Geography: Greatest Places: A Thematic Example: Winter, 1999

2. Teacher Workshop: Greatest Places: February, 1999

3. Educator Open House: Connections to Social Studies: Lesson Plans
aligned with Texas curriculum.


School-Community Programs:

1. Family Geography Challenge Day: March, 1999
School Districts: Free Exhibit Admission: Possible Family Package Admission to Greatest Places. Place Activity: Lauri Sparks

2. BriarHill Middle School Partnership Day: Spring, 1999 GPLI Team