Annual Appreciation Party was a Great Blend of Volunteers and Staff
On April 20th, some 70+ volunteers and 14 staff members celebrated our 2017 accomplishments at our annual volunteer appreciation party. Special recognition pins for milestone ‘years of service’ were awarded to 16 volunteers. Among the recipients were two 35-year volunteers and one 40-year volunteer as well as five other volunteers who received Excellence in Service Awards. Last year some 327 volunteers gave 17,280 hours of their time to help the Associates' audiences, participants, presenters and staff, definitely something to celebrate!
*Be sure to look at the party photos on the right column.
What a fun night!
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Some of you remember our Postcard Project in 2014, when Associates Volunteers brought back postcards from their globe trotting travels. They were strung up by yarn along the top of 3 walls in Jenna's office. It was an amazing testament to how curious our volunteers are about the world and how they spent time at such interesting locales.
In 2018 we are embarking on a new project: The Gratitudes Jar. It sits on the table in Jenna's office. You and your fellow volunteers and Associates staff are invited to jot down something you are grateful about and add it to the jar. Slips of paper are beside the jar. It's amazing how many things we have to be thankful for regarding the work our volunteers and staff do together. Maybe you are grateful for that another volunteer substituted for you because you couldn't help out that evening. Maybe you are grateful for the opportunity to learn about Chinese literature at a lecture program. Maybe you want to acknowledge that a staff member appreciated what you did and that was encouraging to you. You get the idea. No need to mention any specific names, it is the "idea" of what you are grateful for that counts. Let's keep it anonymous.
Once the jar seems full - aiming for December 31, 2018 or perhaps next April, right before the annual appreciation party - Jenna will open the jar and compile a list of what all the slips of paper say and share it with volunteers and staff.
Let's acknowledge our "Attitude of Gratitude" as we go about this year; it will be enlightening to reflect on what makes us thankful for our connection to the Smithsonian, and to the Associates in particular!
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It's Museum Sleepover Season - Activity Leaders Needed!
Here's a Volunteer Flyer 2018 Museum Sleepovers with all the details, feel free to share it with friends whom might like to volunteer with you.
To volunteer for museum sleepovers, select your dates on Sign Up Genius. It's easy! Please note we are not using EVANS this summer for sleepover volunteering. All volunteers will receive a reconfirmation email the week of their sleepovers, with information you will want to know in advance.
SLEEPOVERS: Rocking The Night Shift
by Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
The Smithsonian Associates’ museum sleepovers bring to mind those Night at the Museum movies. Would Ben Stiller (the movie’s star) make a good Smithsonian sleepover volunteer? After all, he’s done the whole night-at-the-museum thing already, right? But then again, maybe he’s just not right for the part.
I talked to three sleepover volunteers to find out what is special about experiencing three world-class museums “after hours” with an eager underage audience. Here is some of what they had to say about what makes for a good sleepover volunteer. It turns out high energy is way up there on the list.
Leah Deitrick did six sleepover volunteer shifts last year, and has signed up to do six again this year. “I love it,” she says. How much does she love it? A big Washington Capitals fan, she gave up watching an important playoff game on a Friday to volunteer at a sleepover. Deitrick is also a huge history fan. Last year she volunteered at all three sleepover venues (American History, Natural History, and the Udvar Hazy Center) but this year she is specializing in just her favorite: American History. About the experience, she says, “Every time it’s different. It’s a lot of fun to see the interaction with the kids and parents.” She adds, “You will be tired, but it never feels like work.” Leah grew up in Orange, County, Virginia, where a lot of this country’s earliest history was forged. She clearly can’t get enough of it: even though she plans to lead learning activities at 6 sleepovers this summer, she says if her schedule is open she’s more than happy to add another one.
Sherri Watkins, a year-round Associates Event Rep and Art Rep, is a true veteran of the sleepover experience. She’s led activities at 16 sleepovers since May of 2014. She says, “It’s one of the best ways to spend your summer.” Which is her favorite museum? “Natural History, definitely.” She describes herself as “a bit of a plant geek.” She likes that sleepover volunteers can make requests for where they want to be stationed, so for the last few years she has requested the Hall of Origins in the Natural History Museum. She says she loves being in that setting where the kids are learning a bit about science and she can help them really engage with the museum. She says you truly can see the kids connecting with things in the museum like cave paintings. Sherri says the key to being a sleepover volunteer is enthusiasm and being flexible. She says typically she is an introvert (and a glass artist) but she brings her “most extroverted self to sleepovers.” If you are warm and welcoming, she says, then you can just watch as that “sense of awe” takes over, as the kids gaze up at a huge taxidermied elephant or a giant whale floating overhead. Being inside these storied museums after everyone else goes home makes sleepovers even more special. “There’s a giddiness in the air when people are arriving.”
Jason Chang normally volunteers at the National Museum of the American Indian but likes to help with sleepovers, too. His first sleepover gig was in June of 2015. By this September he will have led activities at 14 sleepovers overall, including the three he scheduled for this summer. Jason says some key traits to being successful are having a good sense of humor, being flexible, patient, and being energetic (“but not so much that it’s creepy.”) He says his favorite museum is the American History Museum, but the Natural History Museum can be a bit more fun as a sleepover venue because of the building’s layout with gigantic things hanging from the ceiling. Watching people negotiate to get their sleeping bags right under the whale in the Oceans exhibit can be amusing, he says. The other night-at-the-museum special effect he has noticed is in the American History Museum, where the manikins wearing period costumes keep repeating their recorded lines late into the night when all is quiet and only the sleepover crowd is around to hear.
Head casting director and Smithsonian Associates Volunteer Coordinator Jenna Jones chooses the volunteers who land a role in the sleepovers every summer. Jenna says there are roughly 450 sleepover shifts to fill and she has built up a proven pool of 260 volunteers. Volunteers are asked to do at least three of the 13 dates each season. Typically, five to ten staff and interns also assist each week. Jenna says the key traits she looks for are people who enjoy interacting with 8 to 12 years olds; who love Smithsonian museums and have an interest in teaching/learning new things; and are reliable, responsible and dependable. She can’t say who is the longest serving sleepover volunteer since she’s only been in her job for the last five years, but she did nominate Lee Downing for a special Oscar for being a “Sleepover Volunteer Extraordinare.” Lee helped with all 13 sleepovers last year. “His gig is checking in the volunteers as they arrive at orientation, and selling the T-shirts to participants. He’s really great at both.” (Lee would like to thank Jenna and the academy for this special recognition.)
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Pepper makes a debut at Six Smithsonian Sites
by Kiren Jahangeer, Guest Blogger
When you visit some of the Smithsonian museums, you may notice a new addition to the galleries. Pepper, a 4-foot-tall robot joined the institution officially as of April 24th, and made history as the Smithsonian became the first museum in the world to utilize robots in exhibit spaces. Pepper is strategically placed in underserved galleries in order to boost attendance, enhance visitor experience, and foster interactive learning.
Extensive testing was done prior to Pepper’s introduction to the Smithsonian, primarily in NMAAHC next to the Rosa Parks exhibit – and participation in the virtual-reality experience doubled. There are actually 100 Peppers in total that have been donated to the museum by Softbank Robotics, 25 of which are currently at the Smithsonian. While Pepper’s interactive capabilities are limited for now (answering FAQs and telling pre-recorded stories, dancing, playing games, and posing for selfies), this could change in the future, as Pepper serves as a new tool for educators. The Pepper project is on track to expand in June to additional Smithsonian museums.
Tony Cohn, who has led this initiative as part of the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building Team, sums it up thus: “This is a very exciting time – nothing like this has ever been done before. The Smithsonian is incorporating new pieces of technology into the museums, and we are looking forward to seeing what happens next.”
Go visit Pepper the next time you are on the mall! Pepper can be seen at the following locations: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (as well as ArtLab+, the museum’s teen education space), National Museum of African American History and Culture, National Museum of African Art, the Castle, and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. In addition, Pepper greets you at Secretary Skorton’s office. Remember to tag your photos with #SmithsonianPepper.
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Additional Volunteer Opportunity with Smithsonian Transcription Center
The Smithsonian Transcription Center is a freely accessible website—created in 2013—connecting volunteers across the world with Smithsonian collections available for transcription. There are currently over 3,000 projects from 14 Smithsonian museums, libraries, and archives, available in the Transcription Center, and we’re continuing to add more very day. Projects cover a variety of topics and historical themes, including African-American history, women’s history, biodiverse planet, art and design, mysteries of the universe, world cultures, and much more. Joining the Transcription Center as a digital volunteer (or volunpeer as we say!) is as simple as registering for an account. Once you register, you can save your transcribed work, review other transcriptions, create notes to other volunpeers and Smithsonian staff regarding projects, and receive the monthly Transcription Center newsletter. There is no required time commitment—you are simply able to work on as many or as little projects as you’d like at any time. You can even view your accomplishments and track your progress via a downloadable report in the “My Work” section of the Transcription Center.
Find out more on our website: https://transcription.si.edu/
And join the volunpeer community on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube.
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Where Am I?
By Janet Hewitt, Guest Blogger
These days they aren’t doing that much dancing around in the White House. Except, of course, in the press briefing room. But there is evidence that at least one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue owned some serious dancing shoes. And you can see her pink ballet slippers in one of the Smithsonian museums today. But the questions are which museum, and who wore them?
The pointe shoes are on loan from a famous first couple and they look pretty painful to wear--to be honest. But that’s beside the point (no pun intended).
They are not, of course, in the Smithsonian’s Museum of Dance, because, as all good volunteers know, there is no such place. But they do have some pretty cool company in the exhibit space they currently call home.
Here are some hints that might help you figure this one out:
Hint One: Flanking the archway that leads into the small exhibit area where the shoes can be found are two large display cases. On the right, under glass, is a grey Oleg Cassini brocade silk dress and jacket worn by Jackie Kennedy in 1961. On the left are some snazzy red silk pajamas owned by Warren G. Harding.
Hint Two: In the same case, near the ballet shoes, is a paint set used by Archie Roosevelt, son of Teddy, circa 1903. (I guess the kids painted when they weren’t riding ponies.)
Hint Three: You can also find in this display case a vintage doll named “Sally” made around 1829 for Mary Louise Adams, the granddaughter of John Quincy Adams.
Hint Four: Finally--and I feel like I have really given this one away with all these hints--there is an 1896 dollhouse made by a White House gardener for Grover Cleveland’s kids in the display case.
So, where in D.C. are these pink ballet shoes with the fancy pedigree? And who practiced her pirouettes in them? Take your best shot because in the next edition of the blog we are going to make it a bit more challenging. This one is way too easy.
ANSWERS TO LAST ISSUE’S Who Am I?
In the February edition of the blog, we did a slight variation on the feature. We offered up a Who Am I? puzzle question. In honor of Black History Month, we featured a handsome bronze bust of Booker T. Washington that occupies a prominent spot in the National Portrait Gallery. Kudos to those who figured it out.
