When the world closed down in March as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses and organizations scrambled to offer virtual services, curbside pickup and online resources, to recoup some revenue and stay on the minds of their patrons.
While many Milwaukee-area museums and zoos were able to re-open to the public during the summer, the lower capacity, decreased hours and increased vigilance required by the pandemic have led to major revenue shortfalls for the cultural institutions.
Now, as schools figure out their reopening strategies, places like Discovery World, First Stage Children's Theater and the Milwaukee County Zoo will miss out on another major revenue source, because school field trips probably won't be happening for the foreseeable future.
Although the lack of field trips is a blow, the institutions have been planning for months, and they're prepared to offer educational activities to teachers.
Provide resources to overtaxed teachers
Milwaukee's cultural institutions are places to learn. They have education departments with programs and curriculum that are tied to Wisconsin teaching standards.
First Stage's director of programming, Julia Magnasco, and the Milwaukee Public Museum's senior director of education and programs, Meghan Schopp, said their first step in figuring out what they could offer to schools this fall was to ask teachers what they wanted.
"School will look different this fall, and expectations of teachers will be different too," said Magnasco. "We didn't even know if scheduling virtual workshops would be helpful or just one more thing educators would have to put in their tight schedules."
The feedback showed that teachers wanted to maintain relationships with Milwaukee's cultural institutions, and that they would need help this fall.
Brian King is the executive director of Betty Brinn Children's Museum. He's stopped thinking of the museum's fall programming as a replacement for field trips, but rather as an opportunity to provide resources for teachers.
"Our director of education and director of museum experience are both leaders in the field when it comes to STEM-based workshops," said King. "We're all about hands-on learning and we can't really do that in-person right now so we're going to provide real materials that will come in the mail with interaction that is virtual."
BBCM is working with a technology company which has been developing an online platform to provide workshops to students.
King said teachers or parents can sign up children for workshops. They'll receive a kit of supplies in the mail, and workshop leaders will livestream so kids can ask questions.
Teachers "can tailor the experience to fit different kids," said King. "They can sign 5 kids up for one workshop they'd benefit from based on their interests, and then sign up another 5 kids for another workshop."
For example, one workshop under development is called robart (robot art). Students will receive supplies such as a basic motor in their kit, and they can look for objects around the house. During the workshop livestream, the kids will learn how to put everything together to make the robot.
King predicts that the workshop platform will be ready to launch in October.
Repurposing educational tools they already offer
Milwaukee's museums provide programming around their exhibitions and artifacts. Their tours, activities and workshops are designed to hold children's interest while they focus their lessons around the historical, scientific and cultural relevance of their collections.
For example, at the Milwaukee Art Museum, when there's not a pandemic going on, children can create their own art inspired by the museum's collections, and check out art kits and activities to work on as they tour the museum.
Those activities are off-limits for now, but Emily Sullivan, director of youth and family programs, said several of them can be accessed online as companions during a family trip through the museum, or for teachers to incorporate into virtual or in-person art lessons.
Sullivan also said art museum staff is converting some typical school field trips — around themes such as social justice, Wisconsin stories and art through the senses — into virtual offerings. Sullivan expects the virtual tours, which will likely be available in October, will be a combination of live and recorded programming.
A weekly online art club will also start at the end of September. "Every week, they'll be looking at a new artwork and working on a new art activity, with online discussion so the kids can get to know everybody," Sullivan said. "We're hoping it will be a great art break and feel different from the studies they've been doing all day long."
Services will also be available to parents
As the school year gets started during the pandemic, parents continue to be bigger players in their children's education than they've ever been.
Recognizing that virtual school in some capacity will likely be a reality for most students this fall, cultural institutions are including parents in their educational plans.
"We're focusing on the term educator," said Julia Petersen, senior director of programs for the Zoological Society. "That term is more inclusive whether you're a parent, tutor or a teacher within the classroom setting."
Bryan Wunar, president and CEO of Discovery World, anticipates that part of that parent-led education will be family field trips to places that are open.
"We've talked to some school districts, and they've said that there might be some days where kids are encouraged to pursue independent learning," said Wunar. "Like, maybe on Fridays, kids are supposed to go somewhere to broaden their perspective. Discovery World can be one of those destinations."
Staff members at Discovery World are developing alternative field trip options for teachers. They plan on offering virtual tours of some exhibits through video conferencing, allowing students to ask questions during the tour.
When schools book field trips to Discovery World, the program often includes science experiments or activities in one of the museum's labs. Wunar said one reason teachers like to bring their students to Discovery World is to allow them to use specialized equipment they don't have access to in their schools.
That's why Discovery World educators are putting together kits of materials, such as virtual reality headsets and microscopes, for students to use.
"We're also figuring out how we can turn our labs into virtual experiences where our educators can lead a workshop and kids can participate either from the classroom or at home," said Wunar. "It's a chance to interact with a Discovery World educator and dive deep into a content area you would normally come to Discovery World for."
Prioritizing hands-on and interactive over virtual
When everything closed in March, cultural institutions scrambled to provide something of themselves for families to experience online — such as virtual tours, activity tutorials and story times.
Now that they've had more time to plan, venue educators are sensitive to the fact that after a spring, summer and (likely) fall of learning through a screen, their offerings need to be more than just another virtual tour or a video.
The Milwaukee Zoological Society provides educational programs and classes that often go hand-in-hand with school field trips to the zoo. The society has been utilizing both its education department and its partnership with Kohl's Wild Theater to put together virtual zoo school programs for fall.
According to Julia Petersen, the classes will have educational themes, such as animal adaptation, and will feel like a "blended experience" where the zoo educator will speak about the lessons and then cut to animal exhibits within the zoo to enforce the lesson.
"This won't be just a walk-through the zoo, and it won't just be a zoo educator standing there," said Petersen. "We're thinking about everything from cameras and angles and capturing things in advance so it feels live and authentic even though it's prerecorded."
The classes will also incorporate a character that zoo visitors will recognize from Kohl's Wild Theater performances.
The Zoo Society plans to have class options posted to its website by mid-September.
Targeting schools with fewer resources
Cultural institutions in Milwaukee have long had partnerships with businesses to provide free field trips to students from schools in greater need.
Now they're working with those organizations to see if the funds can be pivoted to pay for schools' use of their virtual resources.
The Milwaukee Public Museum is seeking donated funds from sponsors for its virtual school programs this fall.
Several of the museum's educational programs — including classes about butterflies, rocks and mummies — have been reformatted to be available in either a virtual classroom or remote livestream format.
In both formats, a museum educator will use video conferencing technology to lead an interactive class with students; in the virtual classroom format, a kit with hands-on materials will be provided as well.
They've planned with a post-pandemic world in mind
Nobody wanted a pandemic to close everything down. But there has been a silver lining for cultural institutions — they've been forced to put time and resources into technology to enable offsite interactions, and that investment will pay off even after the pandemic is over.
"There are schools that are too far away to come to First Stage for field trips," said Julia Magnasco. "With having a virtual season and providing virtual education options, we can reach them like we have never been able to before."
This fall, First Stage is offering a school membership package, which will allow classrooms throughout the school — whether at home or in the classroom — to access programs throughout the school year.
There are two types of pre-recorded workshops available to teachers. The first, arts-integrated workshops, are 60-minute workshops for elementary and middle-school age students that use dramatic activities to teach different lessons. The second, early-literacy workshops, are for younger children. The 30-minute workshops use children's picture books to encourage activities such as imaginary play, song and dance and role play.
The children's theater season of plays will also be available virtually for classes and families who want to watch a First Stage production.
Contact Amy Schwabe at (262) 875-9488 or amy.schwabe@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @WisFamilyJS, Instagram at @wisfamilyjs or Facebook at WisconsinFamily.
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