Free and educational summer programming by Milwaukee Public Museum, Summer Connections

MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MUSEUM’S SUMMER CONNECTIONS PROGRAM TO PROVIDE FREE

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH, ACCESS TO MUSEUM FOR 450 MILWAUKEE YOUTH

Program includes a free, one-year family membership for all participants

MILWAUKEE —This month, Milwaukee Public Museum (MPM) kicked off its annual summer initiative called
Summer Connections, which provides free, educational programming and access to the Museum for K-8
students throughout Milwaukee in coordination with community partners. This year’s Summer Connections
is expected to serve approximately 450 children—the most since the program began more than a decade
ago.

Summer Connections is a three-part program. Part one involves MPM educators visiting the partner site to
lead an hour-long, hands-on workshop on a Museum-related topic of their choice: dinosaurs, butterflies,
biodiversity in Wisconsin or museum careers. Part two consists of the students visiting MPM to explore the
outreach topic further through the Museum’s permanent exhibits and pop-up engagement opportunities.
Part three offers all Summer Connections participants a free family membership to MPM for an entire year.

“Summer Connections is meant to build upon itself,” said Erin Goff, MPM Public Programs Coordinator. “The
age-appropriate outreach builds on what the children have learned in school. The field trip builds on the
lessons taught during the outreach. Our hope is that with the membership, the children feel confident in
their knowledge of the Museum and are eager to share that knowledge and experience with their families
beyond this summer.”

This privately funded grant program started as an opportunity to engage and serve under-resourced
communities in Milwaukee that have traditionally been underrepresented in Museum spaces. The goal is to
ensure MPM’s exhibits, resources, special events and programs are accessible to all community members.
This year’s partners include Lighthouse Youth Center, Milwaukee Public Schools, Neighborhood House of
Milwaukee, Silver Spring Neighborhood Center, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers and United
Community Center.

"For 10 years, Neighborhood House of Milwaukee’s children have benefitted from Milwaukee Public
Museum’s Summer Connections program," said Jon Janowski, Neighborhood House Executive Director.
"This program offers our youth a wide range of perspectives about both their hometown of Milwaukee and
the many cultures and countries around the world. Their visit to MPM is often one of the highlights of their
summer break, and the free membership provides enriching and entertaining experiences for their entire
family to enjoy that they otherwise may not have accessed on their own accord.”

In total, MPM educators will coordinate 20 Summer Connections outreach visits and field trips to the
Museum over the course of two months.

About the Milwaukee Public Museum
The Milwaukee Public Museum is Wisconsin’s natural history museum, welcoming over half a million visitors
annually. Located in downtown Milwaukee, the Museum was chartered in 1882, opened to the public in
1884, and currently houses more than 4 million objects in its collections. MPM has three floors of exhibits
that encompass life-size dioramas, walk-through villages, world cultures, dinosaurs, a rainforest and a live
butterfly garden, as well as the Daniel M. Soref Dome Theater and Planetarium. MPM is operated by
Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc., a private, non-profit company, and its facilities and collections are held in
trust and supported by Milwaukee County for the benefit of the public.