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http:// --> Weather Forecast --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Archive Backpage Business Classifieds Columnists Contact Us Forum Hot Topics Local Issues Most Viewed Nation & World Obituaries Online Games Opinion/Editorial O-Zone Photo Galleries Place an Ad Rate Card Readers Polls Revels Real Estate Guide Shakespeare Special Sections Sports Subscribe Valley & State Video Weather Etcetera --> Movie Preview --> Hottest Galleries: December 16, 2008 Science for the preschool set By Hannah Guzik Ashland Daily Tidings Get them while they're young isn't usually a phrase applied to museums, but ScienceWorks is aiming to change that with a new exhibit for preschool-aged children. Still in the planning stages, the exhibit will feature hands-on toys that teach kids 5 and younger about nutrition, health and art. John Javna, who is spearheading the project and was one of the founders of ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum, hopes interested community members will help create the exhibit in much the same way the museum was created seven years ago. "I think this is a very, very representative of the community Ashland is about. We want the museum to reflect the place," he said Friday. Get Involved Anyone who would like to learn more about the planned preschool exhibit or help create it may attend a 6:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting at Science Works, 1500 E. Main St. Snacks will be provided and the exhibits will be open. For more information, call John Javna at 941-8229. Javna is holding a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Science Works, 1500 E. Main St., to discuss plans for the exhibit and to recruit volunteers who would like to help create it. He hopes to have the preschool center — which will fill what is now the Einstein Art Gallery in the center of the museum — completed by the end of March 2009, he said. The museum received grants from the Oregon Community Foundation, Sharkey Family Foundation and Leightman Maxey Foundation to install the new exhibit and the ScienceWorks board of directors recruited Javna, author of several bestselling science books, to help create it. "Community involvement is what built ScienceWorks, and the board of directors is excited that our community is coming together again to design and build this rich, stimulating environment for the young mind," said Javna's wife, Sharon, a board member. "While young children from our area use the exhibits to explore the world around them, parents will learn about the way their children's minds develop — emotionally, socially and cognitively," she said. The museum will also expand its bilingual program, StoryTime Science, with the grant funds, Javna said. He is looking for volunteers who would like to help design, build and paint the exhibit, and those who can donate materials and provide moral support, he said. "We really want people who are interested in building part of the museum and people who have young children or care about young children to take ownership of a piece of the museum. We're inviting them to have an experience that they really can't have anywhere else," he said. Ashland needs another space for preschool-aged children to learn about science through hands-on exhibits, said Teresa Fiuren, youth and family program director at Ashland Family YMCA. "I think it's important for our youngest children to have an introduction to science and have safe place to do that. I can't wait to see what we come up with," she said. Anyone who would like to learn more about the planned preschool exhibit or help create it may attend a 6:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting at Science Works, 1500 E. Main St. Snacks will be provided and the exhibits will be open. For more information, call John Javna at 941-8229. Staff writer Hannah Guzik can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 226 or [email protected] . Advertisement: Advertisement: Partners: Security Cameras & Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2008 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Southern Oregon Media Group: Mail Tribune.com – Ashland Daily Tidings – Medford Nickel Del.icio.us