I just want to take a moment to thank all the wonderful volunteers who have helped to make the Children's Museum of the North Bay a reality.  As many of you can imagine, it is a huge undertaking to start a museum of any kind.  And yes, you have to be just a tad bit crazy to take it on; however, starting a museum cannot be done alone!  It takes the vision, commitment, and hard work of many, many volunteers to make it really happen.  I'm so grateful to the many people who have given of their precious time to help the museum become a reality.  I'm also grateful to the their families who have sacrificed time with their loved ones so that the MOG could be staffed for another event!
It's because of the tireless efforts of so many volunteers that the CMNB exists and the MOG has become a wonderful success!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

Are you wondering what the Brainy Bugs Club is all about!  Well, let me explain!  Every year the Volunteer Center of Sonoma holds the Human Race, which is a 3K, and 10K run to raise money for nonprofits all over Sonoma County.  What makes this event special, besides the fact that hundreds of families show up to walk in the 3K, is that entire teams dress up in whacky costumes.  Prizes are given away to the teams with the most spirit and imaginative costumes. 

So this year, we thought it woud be fun to start the Brainy Bugs Club and encourage children and their parents to come dressed as their favorite bug character complete with hand-made antennae (head sculpture) made from recycled newspapers. 

Please join us this year on May 10th and collect pledges ahead of time for the Children's Museum of the North Bay.  Our target amount is $10,000 towards the continuing operations of the Museum-on-the-Go into Schools.  Our long term goal is to fully fund this program so that we can offer it to schools and teachers free of charge. 
Help us reach our Human Race goal and walk or run as part of the Brainy Bugs Club!

Also, join us on March 29th at Fleet Feet Sports in Santa Rosa where Museum volunteers will be helping children and parents make Brainy Bug Antennae.  Check out the calendar for more information.

If you'd like more information, please email info@childrensmuseumNB.org or eleanor@childrensmuseumNB.org.

Hope to see you soon at one of our upcoming events!

I'm excited to announce that today the Children's Museum of the North Bay's MOG paid a visit to Mary Collins School @ Cherry Valley.  Two kindergarten classes enjoyed and discovered hands-on science exhibits and took part in a science demonstration.

Bringing the MOG to schools has been a goal of mine and the Board of Trustees for a long time, and is integral to the long term vision for the museum.  We researched the State and Federal Curriculum Standards to ensure the MOG exhibits fully meet them.  Both teachers and parents can be rest assured the MOG is FUN and EDUCATIONAL!

A huge shout of thanks goes to my partner in crime, Theresa Giacomino, Exhibit and Educational Committee Chair.  Despite the museum's van getting stuck in mud and having to walk exhibits across a muddy field so that we could go forward with the school visit, Theresa was a bastion of positive thinking and determination.

If you're interested in having the MOG visit your school, please contact Theresa@childrensmuseumnb.org!

Lately, I've been reading "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman.  Many of you are probably wondering what took me so long.  Well, I must thank my book club for getting me to read it in the first place, otherwise I'm ashamed to admit that I might never have picked it up.  In it, I came across an eye opening quote in the chapter entitled "This is not a Test" where Friedman quotes Shirley Ann Jackson, the first African American to earn a Ph.D in physics from MIT.  She says “The sky is not falling, nothing horrible is going to happen today.  The U.S. is still the leading engine for innovation in the world.   It has the best graduate programs, the best scientific infrastructure, the capital markets to exploit it.  But there is a quiet crisis in U.S. science and technology that we have to wake up to. The U.S. today is in a truly global environment, and those competitor countries are not only wide awake, they are running a marathon while we are running sprints.  If left unchecked, this could challenge our preeminence and capacity to innovate.”
The longer I work at starting a children's museum, the more I become convinced that we need to be doing all we can to help our young children get engaged in science, math and the arts.  Their future is our future as a community and as an entire nation.