Many people don’t think of museums as making social change in communities, but the Long Island Explorium is playing a vital role on Long Island as a lighthouse for enriching STEAM programs that foster inventive thinking and serves as a catalyst for empowerment . Founded in 2004, The Long Island Explorium is a special place that is extremely important to our community, region, schools and families because it touches so many lives. The minute a visitor steps into our museum, they enter a world of possibilities, wonder, creativity and joy. There is no “sweeter” sound than a crying child sad to leave the Explorium at the end of their visit. When we bring our enrichment programs to underserved, under-represented communities on Long and beyond, we ignite their curiosity, drive their imagination and remove barriers that perpetuate the gender and minority stereotypes of who can be successful in STEM.
Prior to COVID, we welcomed over 10,000 visitors annually, and those children and their families were engaged in smart science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) learning – all while playing and laughing and connecting socially. We are proud of our setting, but the Explorium is more than a place. It is a way of learning and living. The Explorium illustrates the idea that people learn best through minds-on experiences and reflection on those experiences. That is why we offer school-based programs that reach another 3,000 students annually, as we conduct professional development training for scores of educators on how to lead inquiry-rich, experiential classrooms. We help people of all ages who come to us thinking that science is boring, or math is hard, or art is easy, or tech is for geeks or engineering is for boys – and we help them realize that we are all lifelong STEAM citizens living, playing and working in our STEAM world. That is why we proudly produce the annual Maker Faire Long Island that has welcomed over 5,000 visitors in the past five years.
Although the Explorium has been closed since March 2020, we continue to contribute to the well-being of our community by offering interactive online learning for students whose schools have closed and by communicating evidence-based science to the public. Science centers & museums are among the nation’s most trusted institutions. Our work is critical for making evidence-based decisions & navigating crises like COVID 19. The pandemic has clearly shown why it’s so important to build community science literacy as understanding the science behind the virus will lead to better support for science based preventive measures.
Your financial support allows us to link adults, kids, and families together in ways illustrating that ideas, inspiration, hard work, and the failing-forward spirit result in amazing things. For the past 15 years, we have burned a bright torch that illuminated the wonders, opportunities and hope that science can hold for our future generations. The pandemic has dimmed our bright torch but with your support, we look forward to burning brightly again and continuing to scale up our impact on all those who visit the Explorium and participate in our programs. Thank you.