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Rachael Thomson is Playing With a Purpose
By: Terri NoelThis fall marks the opening of the traveling museum exhibit, “Treasure!” presented by the Kidzeum of Health and Science, St. John’s Hospital, and in partnership with SIU School of Medicine. The event will draw Springfield families to the temporary exhibit location and draw attention to the fund raising efforts of the all-volunteer board and committees led by local board president, Rachael Thomson. “Treasure!” is part of the early, capital campaign planning to build the new Kidzeum that will be located at the Edwin Watts Southwind Park. To read more about “Treasure!” and how to become a program sponsor, visit their website www.kidzeum.org.
The mission of the Kidzeum of Health and Science is to create experiences for ALL that inspires learning and discovery through play.
At age of 35, Rachael is a volunteer, wife, and mother of two. Married to her high-school sweetheart Mike, the two are parents of Ellie, age 8 who is in the third grade and Matthew, age six currently in kindergarten. Mike, works for the Speaker of the House and is busy this year managing a statewide political campaign. Rachael self-describes herself as a political widow and is looking forward to Nov. 4 when her husband is not working 95 hours a week.
Both Rachael and Mike graduated high school in Princeton, Illinois before leaving for college. Mike attended Western Illinois University in Macomb while Rachael received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Culver-Stockton College, a small, private college, in Canton, Missouri. Later, she attended Illinois State University in Bloomington, Illinois to study the Masters program in Exercise Physiology.
Rachael’s academic interests are a perfect compliment to her high-energy role in leading a team of volunteers who have already pledged more than 700 hours of time to the Kidzeum project. Previously she worked for Trinity Services with individuals with disabilities in Wilmington, Illinois before relocating to Springfield in 1998. Rachael then worked at Hope School as a lead program coordinator until mid-2000 when their first child Ellie was born.
As a full-time mother, Rachael found extra time to donate to the Springfield Junior League serving as chair for a marketing project that was awarded to the Springfield Children’s Museum. The original Children’s Museum, located in downtown Springfield, was open from 1992 through 2000 and attracted over 40,000 visitors each year. Rachael’s role as chair for the Junior League connected her to many of the original museum board members and in 2004; she became board president of the Springfield Children’s Museum. Over the past four years, she has worked to create the newly formed 15-member board and the focus for the revived children’s museum Kidzeum of Health and Science. The proposed building will be 20,000 square feet depending on capital donations and will be located within the new Edwin Watts Southwind Park. According to recent research, the museum will serve nearly 39,000 children under the age of 15 living in Sangamon County.
“I am so fortunate to be a part of this project,” commented Rachael. “In fact, I consider the Kidzeum my third child. My family, including my kids has assisted the Kidzeum Board of Directors and me in “rearing” the museum from a dream to a concept and now close to reality. My kids are my inspiration and motivation to have the energy for this full-time, non-paying job and it is a blessing that they can be a part of this with me. They find so much joy in learning new things about the world and themselves that it seems like a no-brainer to build a children’s museum that will cultivate their curiosity and stimulate their imagination. The best part of investing my time in the Kidzeum is I not only am doing this for my kids but for the 190,000 children in a 60-mile radius of Springfield. That is something I am really proud of and I hope Springfield and the surrounding communities will support Kidzeum and feel that pride of investing in our children.”
In the early phases of planning the Kidzeum, the board crafted both the mission and vision of the project after visiting other central Illinois children’s museums. The board determined that choosing a niche that is not currently being addressed by other facilities in Springfield or by other central Illinois, children’s programs could ensure long-term success of the museum. “Exhibits that focus on health and science were chosen partly because the committee felt that the historical topics were already being covered in Springfield by other museums such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum,” explained Thomson. The board concluded that the best way to be an educational asset to the Springfield community is to focus on health, wellness, and science. Exhibits that cover health and wellness topics in particular, will reflect some of the critical issues that children face in today’s times such as declining oral hygiene, and childhood obesity. Clearly, there is a need for children to understand their bodies especially with reported statistics, included in the project’s case study, showing that nearly 29% of low-income children between the ages of two and 5 are obese or at risk for obesity. For ages 2 – 17, statistics show 17% has risk factors for obesity.
In keeping with the museum’s scientific focus, plans include the use of the building itself as an external exhibit to teach youth about how our energy demands and use of materials affect global health. The outside area will demonstrate energy sources, such as wind power and the backyard features include a playhouse with stilt-like beams providing support. Keeping with the park’s goal, constructed for all people regardless of disability and ability, the construction will follow the LEED building codes. It will be a “green building” by finding ways to use renewable energy, conserve water, and use recycled materials.
1) Twenty-nine percent of low-income children between two and five years of age in Illinois are overweight or at risk of becoming overweight. (CDC PedNSS, 2003)
The Kidzeum of Heath and Science’s vision is to be THE model in health and science learning for children and families. Our vision will be accomplished through our unparalleled determination to:
• Foster an environment that promotes health awareness • Encourage healthy choices • Promote healthy lifestyles • Increase science education through innovative play • Understand the environments impact on health • Ensure an environment that can be utilized by all abilities • Create a sense of wonder in ALL of our visitors
The capital campaign, now in the silent phase, is well on its way with a major gift from St. John’s Children’s Hospital in partnership with SIU School of Medicine in early 2007. Plans include the ability to use the museum as a natural rehabilitative site for the pediatrics department. The campaign will publicly kick off this January 2009. Groundbreaking is tentatively set for July 2010 and depending on the positive responses by local residents and businesses, the opening date for the building is planned for January 2012.
The museum will feature hands-on exhibits and interactive programs. The monetary goal for the building is to include seven themed areas. Potential exhibit gallery ideas include:
My Healthy Body Gallery- interactive exhibits with topics including germs, the five senses, vision testing, bone setting, circulation and a walk through digestive system.
My Healthy Community Gallery- an interactive ambulance that teaches first aid and rescue skills, dental clinic to help combat the fear of visiting a dentist, sports clinic, health food store to encourage a healthy diet and a weather station to teach children emergency safety and what causes inclement weather.
My Healthy Environment Gallery- all will be encouraged to “go green” and consider recyclables, water conservation and renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind power. Our LEED certified building would be used as a teaching tool.
My Healthy Land Gallery-learn about natural regional elements such as river ways and lakes, agriculture, and natural and biological sciences and how they relate to our land.
Mary Sinker, a well-known museum consultant, has eloquently described the need for children’s museums. “Children's museums provide a safe harbor in a scary, busy, and complicated world. They offer children the gift of playing freely in an inviting and complex environment and of playing with new things and people in time-tested ways. Play is vitally necessary to a child’s healthy and full development.”
