To the editor:
The Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum (CCDM) will serve the needs of children, families and schools as a center for learning and discovery. For children, it is first and foremost a place to call their own, offering interactive exhibits and programs in a warm and inviting setting. In its unique environment, children actively make connections among ideas, people and cultures. The Museum’s programs also encourage children to define their role in and contribution to both local and global communities. Finally, as a center for creative play and expression, the CCDM will provide opportunities for all of us to discover the world through the eyes of our children.
No children’s museum is to be found for more than 150 miles. Census data shows that Aroostook County alone has more than 12,000 children under the age of 12. Many of these children are seeking an entertaining and educational experience for themselves and their families. The Museum will fill this need, in an engaging, interactive, and fun manner.
The Museum is about the future. When a community makes a bold commitment to create a children’s museum, it is opening its hands to hold and nurture their future: those future leaders, engineers, doctors, scientists, farmers, artists, teachers, and dreamers who are today’s children. The CCDM will be a place of possibilities and promise, the very heart of the community. The long-term mission of the CCDM is to provide stimulating and innovative educational opportunities for all who enter the doors. The Museum will provide an opportunity for children and adults to discover and rediscover that learning is fun and to experience the participatory nature of the Museum’s exhibits and programs through interaction between children and adults of all ages. The Museum will be a place where visitors of all ages, ethnicities, social groups, cultures, and religions come together to learn about and from each other. It will be a comfortable, safe, and enjoyable place where people come to be surprised and to understand and learn through a variety of hands-on exhibits, activities, and programs.
There is nothing more rewarding for parents, grandparents, and caregivers than to see the children they love learning so joyfully. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a children’s museum right here in Aroostook County? Please consider joining the team of committed volunteers and Board members who are making it happen. Get in on the ground floor of creating something vitally important to the future of our children for years and years to come!
With your participation, you can help bring the CCDM to life and leave an important and meaningful legacy by ensuring that Aroostook County is a place where children and families are supported and valued. You can help make this vision a reality. The CCDM needs your support to finance and build this premier, state of the art, interactive science and discovery museum. We are seeking a location, founding donors, exhibit sponsors, and professional services. We are a 501(c) (3) tax exempt organization and all donations are tax deductible. Mail to: CCDM, P.O. Box 487, Caribou, ME 04736. For more information, call me at 764-9241 or Ken Murchison at 492-1062.
Nancy Chandler, vice president
Caribou Children’s Discovery Museum
