Young Ambassadors 2018 Internship Blog

As cheesy as it is, I can’t believe I’ve already come to my last week as an intern at The Children’s Museum of Houston. I’m incredibly thankful to everyone here who has made this such a great, and challenging, experience. I have to give a special shout out to Alleigh and Cathy (my supervisors), for helping me find ways to pursue my own interests here at the museum. At the end of last week, Cathy told me she’d gotten me a little assignment from the P.R. department to write an article on the superhero show, just so I could have something to do in the realm of journalism/communications. This was such a sweet gesture, and a great opportunity because the article will be featured in the museum’s newsletter. So on Monday, I attended both showings of “Power Up!” and interviewed families who had come to see the show more than once this summer. I asked them what they liked about the show, who their favorite hero is, and what it means to the kids to hear ‘hey, you can be a hero ...

Last Week at the Museum of Latin American Art The last week at MOLAA was definitely a memorable culmination of the past three weeks of summer art camp. From the deinstallation of all the galleries at the museum, to the party for all summer art camp volunteers, and the installation of the art gallery "Undocumented Stories", this last week was was to remember. The first days were spent deinstalling all the galleries at the museum. This was a rather tedious job since I was given the task of removing the vinyl lettering placed on the walls of the exhibitions which provided background information on the artwork and pieces. This showed me the much thought that is put into the creation of exhibits and the message that is portrayed to the audience.  Additionally, I was also given the task of coordinating and creating a celebration party for the summer art camp volunteers who generously volunteered their time for three weeks. The party was Havanna themed which left me and...

After having a week off on a family vacation, I have to say I was ready to be back at The Children’s Museum this week. Taking a walk on the “Science” side of life has taught me a lot, given that I’m not a science-y type of person. The most important lesson I’ve learned so far is this: anyone can be a scientist, as I so often explain to our little scientists in the power science lab. At first those words felt a little bit foreign in my mouth. I felt like a hypocrite, especially when I think about how I’m majoring in journalism and a liberal arts honors program. I’m not passionate about science, and yet throughout these last three weeks it’s been inspiring to interact with hundreds of kids who, by the end of the experiment, are exclaiming “I want to be a scientist when I grow up!” On Wednesday, another one of my supervisors Cathy took me over to see the superhero show she puts on for our visitors in the auditorium. It’s a cute 15 minute show called “Power up!” which tea...

MI FAMILIA. As Sunday reaches its end, there's no longer workshops, reception tasks, tours, or any of the sort left. It surreal to not wake up with the sole purpose of going to the museum, a feeling I am going to miss. These last four weeks have opened my eyes to what surrounds me, taught me to seek more, to discover new assets in me, and has shown me to never conform to what I know; there's always room to grow. The team of MHAA has become my family and I can proudly say they are a part of the YAP family, which means that MHAA is part of of us, a part of you. I hope throughout the blogs, it has become clear how wonderful of a discovery this experience truly is, and it ended as great as it could ever be. During the week I researched Egyptian culture, gave tours to visitors, took the measures necessary to protect a painting (and I carried a giant bubble wrap through campus), and was in charge of handling and fixing the subtitles on an hour seminar, which would make the vid...

I can't believe that the internship is already over! This has been such an awesome experience and I am really sad that it has to end. But this last week was a good note to leave off on. During the beginning of the week, I worked on the creating guides for families whose children want to participate in nature play. One of our goals here is to ensure that children grow up with an appreciation for nature and we try to do this by getting them to play outside. Nature play is any activity or game that involves using natural materials and plants, whether it be leaf rubbings, scavenger hunts, etc. So I worked on creating guides for families that would help them know what kind of activities they can complete with their children. I also prepared a lot for the facebook live broadcast that took place this week. It was on orangutans, and we did a craft where we created little pipe-cleaner orangutans that could hang on a pencil. We then ended the broadcast by playing a game that taught the a...

I am sad to be leaving Arte Américas on the week that it re-opens, but I am glad to have contributed to the museum in its most critical weeks leading up to an exhibit opening. This week was very busy for the museum and was also pretty busy for me. I had the community outreach activity on Monday and I could not have asked for a better audience to read to. These kids were so well behaved and I had a lot of very good questions to answer, even though it was a small audience. On Thursday, the museum opened its doors after being closed for the month of July to reveal a new art exhibit. I helped to clear out the galleries of any trash or pieces that needed to be moved or thrown away. Although, most of my day was spent in the library. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have been working on inventory for the museum’s collection of magazines. Pictured above is the finished product; after having them scattered on the floor and sorting through many piles, I have a great sense of accomplish...

My internship at Explora was an amazing opportunity. I was able to see behind the scenes of all the hard work that has to be done to make Explora amazing. I have met amazing educators who truly care about teaching children in our community. Everyone (staff) at Explora is so passionate about what they do and I think its because they know they are making a difference in New Mexico. I used to think that Explora was just a museum in my state, now I know that it's a family, its an adventure, it truly is a learning center for ALL ages. I am going to miss all of the people I met here because to be quite honest everyone at Explora is so friendly, kind, and helpful! When I was leaving today, everyone that I worked with gave me a big hug and they gave me souvenirs! I'm going to miss making bubble solution, colored ice, tour groups, camp classes, re stocking materials, helping educators get supplies for the class, and I am going to miss the kids. I love working with kids( especially when...

 As I entered my last week at Adler, I was both sad and excited. I was sad it was coming to an end but excited for what would come. I am so thankful for this amazing experience that has taught me so much about myself and SPACE. I'm not quite sure where to begin, I've learned so incredibly much these past few weeks.  This week started by speaking to college students and staff. It was informative and important since I leave for college in just weeks. It was helpful to have people I could ask relevant questions to in front of me. I also did more surveying and inputting of the data. I was able to get a sneak peak of the data so far. This project is to answer the question whether live narration is better or not. I was surprised to find how many none "preferences" or "both" that were recorded. I was also tasked with measuring the cubic feet of the collections space.   One concept that always was able to take me by surprise and make me think is how I was in...

Having this week come to an end has truly made me sad because I hate goodbyes. As I have told many of my friends and family, these kids and this experience has brought so much joy into my everyday life. My co-workers have also contributed to some great memories because of their kind and humorous personalities. They have allowed me to feel welcomed and safe in a new environment that I was unsure and unprepared to encounter. Many of the activities that we did this week included just finishing up a lot of the pieces of art that the kids created throughout the six-week camp. They finished up with their mini shadow play which they created with different figures and backgrounds seen through an overhead. This week was also used to finish up practicing their baile folklórico.                                                             ...