In reflecting about my internship at the Huntington Children’s Museum, I have numerous thoughts about what I have learned during my internship. I believe that I have developed greater communication and collaboration skills, and also developed greater cultural sensitivity through my interaction with different cultures. These skills will be crucial within the confines of my future career due to the fact that I will be required to communicate ideas to students, and also engage in collaborative work. Therefore, in this regard, my internship has been enormously beneficial in developing these skills.
My motivation for originally wanting to intern at the Huntington’s Children’s Museum, was that I was attempting to push myself outside of my comfort zone, and try to further develop skills in the process of doing work. My primary task with the museum was the creation of content in which I was tasked with both developing and presenting in conjuncture with my on-site mentor Raine Klover. In doing this, I developed a skill in regards to the planning and execution of lesson plans within the confines of a classroom setting. My programming was centered around traditional folktales from Russia/Ukraine. My programming also incorporated geography, language, culture, and history. One moment that stands out to me was during the first week of programming when we showed a picture of a Russian house to a young girl, and she replicated it using craft materials. Furthermore, when we spoke Russian during the same story time, she was able to repeat the words using accurate pronunciation.
During the Ukraine programming, we engaged in traditional Cossack dancing, and many of the children found this to be an exciting prospect, and enjoyed the physical aspect of connecting with a different culture. This for me personally, was one of the highlights of my 6 week programming.In thinking about the mission of Huntington Children’s Museum, it is centered around the fundamental pursuit of allowing children the opportunity to learn through play. Furthermore, the use of STREAM is also a critical component of how the Huntington Children’s Museum develops programming for the children at the museum.
Lastly, it is my sincere hope that children have learned something that they will remember from this programming block.
Joshua Enyart
Marshall University Senior
Herdwork Humanities Intern
