Discovery Station Launches New Initiative with the Distribution of 6,000 STEAM and Financial Literacy Kits to Washington County Families

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE?

?Contact:?Brittany Wedd, Executive Director?

Discovery Station?

Office: 301.790.0076?

Email: [email protected]?

Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc. Launches New Initiative with the Distribution of 6,000 STEAM and Financial Literacy Kits to Washington County Families and Childcare Centers?

Hagerstown, MD (October 28, 2021):?Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc. successfully launched the pilot year of the Common Cents Community Building Initiative. With this initiative, 6,000 STEAM and financial literacy kits have been distributed to families, childcare centers, and program partners around Washington County to support kindergarten readiness. These kits are offered at no cost to those participating in the initiative thanks to the generous support of State Farm, the United Way of Washington County, the Fletcher Foundation, the Community Foundation of Washington County, and the Washington County Arts Council.?

With this initiative, Discovery Station will work alongside the Judy Center of Washington County, the Washington County Free Library, APPLES for Children, Inc., Together With Families, Inc., Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County, and other agencies, to distribute 25,000 STEAM and financial literacy kits to Washington County children by 2025 - all to support kindergarten readiness.?

This was Discovery Station’s largest volunteer project to date in the organization’s 25-year history. Museum volunteers dedicated over 2,000 hours of time to see the project to completion. Each STEAM and financial literacy kit includes 12 hands-on activities in English and Spanish, as well as all of the activity materials.?

“These kits will support the Maryland Department of Education’s pedagogy for children from birth to age 8 and were a huge undertaking for our nonprofit children’s museum. With only two full-time staff members, we were proud to be able to bring so many volunteers together for this meaningful cause,” said Brittany Wedd, executive director for Discovery Station. “These kits take a two-generational approach to STEAM and financial literacy so that children learn the skill-sets they need to be prepared for kindergarten with consistent academic success thereafter, and so that parents and caregivers will be empowered in their roles as educators.”?

One of the childcare centers to receive the kits was My Favorite Place. Holly Frazer, director of the center states: “My Favorite Place is so thankful to be a recipient of these kits. My Favorite Place has always been huge on family engagement and that has been a harder task recently since Covid. My Favorite Place decided to use these kits to connect home and school by sending them home with families to work on. When home and school are connected amazing things can and will happen.”?

The Common Cents Community Building Initiative will be making a targeted effort to improve the early educational outcomes of children in Washington County through supplemental learning opportunities in the home and in childcare settings.?

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Discovery Station is a hands-on museum that provides life-long learning experiences to thousands of children and families each year. We create an environment that stimulates curiosity for discovery, exploration, and further investigation through exhibits and programs that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) principles. Discovery Station is a 501(c)(3) non-profit children’s museum.?