Submitted photo Michael Hayes and Lisa Martin with the Interact Children’s Museum addressed the Elkins Rotary Club.

ELKINS — Lisa Martin, board president, and Michael Hayes, board treasurer, updated the Elkins Rotary Club on the progress of the Elkins Interact Children’s Museum.

“A children’s museum is not just about what’s in it, it’s about the philosophy behind it. It’s about the idea of exploring, discovery and being creative,” said Martin. They brought some items from the mobile museum, including the signature piece wind tunnel, to demonstrate for the group. “When we put stuff out for the kids, it looks like junk. It’s paper cups, it’s coffee filters, it’s popsicle sticks. Saturday night [at the US Capitol Christmas Tree celebration] we had construction paper, scissors, and staplers and we had children who stayed for 30 minutes experimenting,” added Martin. “We had a 13-year-old boy who came over who kept playing and playing with the wind tunnel.”

The mission of the Interact Children’s Museum is to connect the community through education and play. “What you see the kids doing at our events looks like play but they’re actually learning and having a great time doing it,” said Martin. “Our values are family, education, curiosity, imagination and community. It’s not an accident that community is in there again. We feel very strongly that we want to strengthen the community, to be a part of the community.” Finally, the Museum’s vision is to inspire children to explore, learn and discover their full potential.

In 2019, the Interact Children’s Museum was the brainchild of Lydia Johnson Grady, Jessie Thompson and Janna Brown. Grady and Thompson no longer live in the community, but Brown is serving on the organization’s board as secretary. The organization was incorporated in 2019 and received 501(c)(3) status. “We started looking for a building. WE were convinced that that was what was going to happen. We were going to find a building and open up our doors. Then, this little thing called COVID happened. Thank goodness we did not have a building; we would not have survived at that point,” said Martin. The group took a step back and worked on securing grants, met virtually and developed a website.

In 2021, the organization worked with Woodlands Development to implement a market study to ensure the group was on the right track. The study was favorable and the exhibit collection was expanded. The group then partnered with Our Town and the Mountain Laurel Learning Cooperative in Tucker County in order to get into the community and share its exhibits. “We re-evaluated and determined that the museum needed to be a mobile museum for a while. We decided to collect nice things and go where the kids were,” said Martin. “We started working with Randolph County Schools and last year we were in every school but two. This year, we will be in all schools.”

In 2022, the organization renewed its search for a physical location for the museum. The optimum space would be between 6,000 and 10,000 square feet on a single story. “We fall under the same guidelines that a school does. We’ve got to have sprinklers and the exits and handicapped bathrooms and the elevators if there are two stories,” said Martin. “We need a building, we need a staff and we need to open our doors. We’re ready and the community’s ready.”

During the current year, the organizations has focused on fundraising and ran a campaign during the summer that offered free events all over the county. Randolph County Schools has been able to receive grants to allow the schools to have the museum volunteers to present programs to its students. The museum has some expenses that need to be covered and the funds provided by the schools are a great help in that area. The budget for the summer activities exceeded $12,000.

Volunteers are crucial to the success of the organization. All board members are volunteers but the group was able to contract with an individual to help organize the events and volunteers for the summer activities. “We’ve got a little money left in the grant we wrote for her so she still does a few things for us. One of the things she does for us is our newsletter,” commented Martin.

Anyone interested in receiving the organization’s newsletter or volunteering with the group is encouraged to contact Martin at interactmuseum@gmail.com. More information about the Interact Children’s Museum can be found at its website, www.interactchildrensmuseum.org, on Facebook (Interact Children’s Museum) or by emailing Martin at the Museum’s email address.

Rotary is a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in their communities, and in themselves. Visit www.Rotary.org to learn more about Rotary International, visit the club’s Facebook page — Rotary Club of Elkins — or contact club president Kenny George at kenneth.george@blueridgeriskpartners.com for more information about the Rotary Club of Elkins.