The children's museum tucson will expand its steam program offerings for families and young learners onsite and through virtual and in-person outreach throughout pima and santa cruz counties

The Children's Museum Tucson received a $1,068,913 Project Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the Museums for America (MFA) program (CFDA 45.301). The grant will expand the museum's STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) program offerings for families and young learners in Pima and Santa Cruz Counties, both on-site and through virtual and in-person outreach. Key activities include creating a new bilingual STEAM specialist position to offer existing programs in Spanish, develop Spanish-language tours, and design new Spanish-origin programs and community engagement initiatives. This will enable the museum to become an inclusive and welcoming space for children who have historically been excluded from educational programs, allowing all children in southern Arizona to build, create, imagine, explore, and discover. The grant period runs from September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2026.

Building on "aprendemos," an imls-funded initiative, the museum will create a new position for a bilingual steam specialist, who will collaborate with the project team to expand existing programs by offering them in spanish, create spanish-language tours, and design new programs and educational community engagement that originate in spanish, as well as continuing translation of existing programs. As a result, the museum will be an inclusive, welcoming place for children who have historically been excluded from educational programs, and enable all children in southern arizona to build, create, imagine, explore, and discover.