Action Plan

Venue Dates for The Greatest Places:
TBD, OMNIMAX opens Spring 1998
Museum Educator:
Jennifer Ernisse
Manager of Programs
205.558.2058
[email protected]

Institution Information:
McWane Center (opens Spring 1998)
Project Headquarters
1320 22nd St. South
Birmingham, AL 35205

Program Title:*
The Greatest Places in Alabama - Videodocumentary

Program Overview:
Create a videodocumentary /video culture box of the greatest places in Alabama to distribute throughout the state to kids ages 8 - 14. This activity can culminate in “The Great Debate,” a debate hosted by McWane Center to encourage children to articulate why their place is so important to the state. (Children are specifically linked to a Greatest Place from the film and correspond accordingly with Peace Corps volunteers, citizens, etc. from that place. They are encouraged to film themselves as they develop cross-cultural relationships and record their “learning curve” through researching images, traditions, geography, and through actual correspondence.)

Program Goals:
Raise awareness of Alabama geography, utilize children to “teach” other children about the geography of Alabama, make a dynamic video of great places in Alabama, build on existing videodocumentary models at McWane Center, mimic the production and tasks of filmmaking, possible feed to internet connection for video clips

Program Dates:
9 months before receiving film

Time Needed:
Our videodocumentary model has used zero funds except for minimal costs for distribution, see funding sources for this project

Materials:
Videocamera, videotapes, access to video production lab

Place:
McWane Center, travel to other venues around Alabama

Program Audiences:
State of Alabama, program development by middle school children

Internal Contacts:
Myself

External Contacts:
Geographic Alliance, Board of Tourism and Travel, Statewide Geography teachers

Timeline for planning and implementation:
1st three months: Planning, Obtaining funding, Contact teachers for input and guidance
2nd three months: Film and correspond
Final three months: Edit, Revise, and produce “final” copy for distribution...”do
overs” and “add ons” are encouraged for scaling up and refining the next year

Financial Support:
Grant to Alabama Board of Tourism and Travel

Evaluation:
On-line, student and teacher pre- and post-interviews, videotapes themselves

Program Overview:
This program supports development of a web site for The Greatest Places in Alabama and is a prototype for our “Exhibikits” initiative. This initiative emphasizes children (families, teachers) making their own kits and placing their research on the internet as an exercise equally placed between content and process. Please reference action plan by Micki McWilliams, my teacher partner and co- learner in this activity.

Program Goals:
Develop a unique website for and by middle school children; model collaboration (statewide) for scale up at sites hosting The Greatest Places as well as conference participants; experiment with dynamic, constructivist learning programs bridging multimedia, geography, and science

Program Dates:
August 1997 to July 1998

Time Needed:
1 year

Materials:
Access to server, photography equipment, HTML package, etc.
Place:
Host school: Cherokee Middle School, Host institution: McWane Center

Program Audiences:
The world, middle school children, geography teachers, museum professionals

Internal Contacts:
Programming department, Internal technology gurus (and semi-gurus, including myself)

External Contacts:
Possibly 4-6 middle school teachers statewide and their classes, Geographic Alliance, University geographers and technology instructors

Timeline for planning and implementation:
From September to July, I provide the technical support, strategic support, research support to participating classes.
July 1998: Unveiling of website at McWane Center
Financial Support:
Grant to National Geographic, Alabama Power, and/or Alabama Geographic Alliance

Evaluation:
Journals by participating children, photos, web site itself including number of accesses per month, intended publications in various geography , museum, and social studies journals

Program Overview:
A collaboration with the libraries allows for us to bring local resources to the trunk template of The Greatest Places objects. Through coordinated efforts with local libraries, the outreach staff of McWane Center or regional geography teachers host a month-long look at The Greatest Places. Participating children receive stamps on their passport as they journey from host library to host library to delve into a resource rich environment to investigate place. (I think the passport model is also an effective teacher professional development “device” as well as for students in the classroom.) I would like for the kickoff for this enrichment program to start with a stamp contest for each place where children submit ideas for “icons” of each Greatest Place. Collecting stamps on passports will reduce the price of the film or admission to McWane Center.

Program Goals:
Build marketing for the film while generating a focus on literacy and place as a sense of collective institutions (not just a science center)

Program Dates:
2 months prior to the film

Time Needed:
Program lasts one month, contest finishes two weeks before literacy program starts

Materials:
Stamps, trunk, additional resources as collected for McWane Center outreach program

Place:
Surrounding Birmingham libraries (or any set of community libraries)

Program Audiences:
Children ages 5 - 14

Internal Contacts:
Myself

External Contacts:
Birmingham Libraries

Timeline for planning and implementation:

	6 months prior to film:		Establish contacts

	3 months prior to film:		Initiate stamp contest, finalize

						outreach program enhancement, 								establish resource list for each 								country at library

	2 1/2 months prior to film:		finalize stamp contest

	2 months prior to film:		one month themed programs in libraries

	At opening:				preview for librarians, honor passports for 							reduced film price

Financial Support:
Libraries, Programming budget

Evaluation:
Post-interview with participating children, librarian post-interview

Program Goals:
Raise awareness of Geography and sense of place, establish and reflect on Alabama’s culture and unique sense of place, bridge science and geography

Program Dates:
November 1998

Time Needed:
Organized as part of normal theming and front end planning around “events” and “science days” such as Earth Day, Space Day, National Science and Technology Week. Incorporating it here will be a natural extension of normal activities

Materials:
Unknown...I tend to create activities which require “construction” on the part of the learner and we could do a growing “place wall” and construct a map of Alabama using the baggie model or some other “research” project. This kind of activity would build toward the culminating event, in this case, National Geography Week.

Place:
McWane Center

Program Audiences:
General visitors

Internal Contacts:
Programming staff
Guest Services
Special Events Coordinator
Marketing

External Contacts:
Geographic Alliance

Timeline for planning and implementation:
Integrated into normal planning, approximately 2 weeks

Financial Support:
Program Budget

Evaluation:
General visitor questionnaire

Program Overview:
Host the Alabama Geography Bee

Program Goals:
Raise awareness of Geography and sense of place, establish and reflect on Alabama’s culture and unique sense of place, bridge science and geography

Program Dates:
February 1999

Time Needed:
None from programs

Materials:
None from programs

Place:
McWane Center

Program Audiences:
Geography teachers and grades 4-8, General visitors

Internal Contacts:
Guest Services
Special Events Coordinator
Marketing

External Contacts:
Geographic Alliance

Timeline for planning and implementation:
Up to Special Events staff

Financial Support:
External Sources (National Geographic)

Evaluation:
General visitor questionnaire, teacher post-program interview

Other ideas in action plans that can be implemented :*

• Teacher preview of The Greatest Places film
  
• Creating a camp-in for Girl Scouts and general visitors
  
• Recruiting and incorporating Geography teachers as facilitators for programs surrounding the film
  
• Teacher Workshops using The Greatest Places trunk
  
• Facilitating authentic curriculum adventures (either program directed- e.g. videodocumentary or non-program directed - e.g. field trip to various places in Alabama and beyond)
  
• Lecture series in our Presentation Theater given by geographers and visitors/experts from The Greatest Places
  
• Utilize GIS software in Resource City, Learning Lab, or a Resource Outpost (venues within McWane Center)

• “Adventure Survival Kit” - our school group adventure package which includes pre-visit materials (and sometimes assignments-such as the “baggie” activity), readings, resource lists, web page links and post-activities
  
• Classroom outreach program developed with the trunk as a template (possibly not contingent on obtaining the film but as a matter of funds for development since I currently manage this successful program although the science center is not open)

• Short term dissemination from the conference...article in the Alabama Geographic Alliance newsletter by Micki McWilliams and Jennifer Ernisse

*Contingent on signing a contract for the film