Royal Ontario Museum Annual Report 2007/2008

Summer Club
generously sponsored by: imperial oil foundation
Another incredibly successful season was had, with nearly 2,000
kids enrolling in one of 83 groups offered. A dedicated team
of 80 volunteers contributed over 8,600 hours, enhancing a
dynamic staff team of 58 instructors and assistants. The Summer
Club Leadership Training program had 54 participants. A
partnership with the CNIB’s youth leadership development
program, SCORE, involved six visually impaired youth joining
Summer Club as assistants for three days. This partnership
helped to identify important accessibility issues here, while
providing SCORE participants with a dynamic and challenging
community service experience. Summer Club participants
continued to enjoy unique learning opportunities like the
new programs Art Express, Tomb Treasures, Unsung Heroes, Dino
Detailers and Ancient Architects. Feedback from parents was very
positive, with a parent saying “It is the best camp in the city.”
Saturday Morning Club
generously supported by the Philip and Berthe Morton
foundation
Spring, fall and winter sessions were as popular as ever, with
over 100 kids in each session! New offerings attracted a lot
of attention, while long-running courses continue to be
favorites. All of this would not be possible without the amazing
contribution of the 35 volunteer assistants who, in total,
contributed over 3,300 hours to this program. This is even more
remarkable when you consider that over 90% of the current
volunteers were either former participants, staff or volunteers.
The amazing tradition of behind-the-scenes exploration was
continued, with Justin Jennings providing a tour of the New
World Archeology collections,and graduate student Bill Kilburn
providing a tour of the mammology prep room.
CIBC Discovery Gallery
This gallery offers the ROM’s youngest visitors a fun and
interactive space with an abundance of hands-on activities, real
artifacts and a new IBM Eternal Egypt Kiosk. Friendly and
informative gallery volunteers interacted with kids and showed
them all the interesting things to do in the gallery.
Toys in the CIBC Discovery Gallery experience a lot of
wear and tear from energetic kids. Suppliers of children’s toys,
costumes and books Doug and Melissa, Creative Education and
Pearson’s Publishers kindly provide a generous discount on new
gallery supplies.
Patrick and Barbara Keenan Family Gallery of hands-on
Biodiversity
A perennial favorite with families, this gallery had extra
programming, including Seed Days, Monarch Butterfly
appreciation days, Robert Bateman “Get to Know” contest
launch day, craft “recycle” days and origami workshops. New
exhibit additions to the gallery included a cinnamon bear (a
subspecies of the American black bear), a tree cookie (a cross-
section of a tree trunk) and a new bird case.
Both hands-on galleries rely on many volunteers to enliven the
galleries and interact with young visitors. Last year, over two
hundred individuals, including co-op students, volunteered their
time. These volunteers also worked in the Digital Gallery, the
Dino Dig located in the Gallery of the Age of Mammals and
activity areas in related exhibitions: Ancient Peru Digs and the
Darwin Discovery Zone.
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