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Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... GOP's war on the poor ... Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: A day in the life of ScienceWorks Comment By Chip Lindsey DailyTidings.com By Chip Lindsey Posted May. 19, 2015 at 1:29 PM By Chip Lindsey Posted May. 19, 2015 at 1:29 PM » Social News Wednesday, May 6, broke cloudy and cool. Waves of yellow pollen poured from the pine trees as I skidded down Morton Street toward ScienceWorks. This museum of hands-on, phenomena-based exhibits will serve more than 60,000 people this year from across nine counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon. As I pulled into the parking lot there were no buses to greet me. Unusual, but they will be coming. Today promises lots of laughter and action. The first Wednesday of the month is “Free Wednesday.” Scores of families from around the Rogue Valley will be here today. On top of that, hundreds of children will be visiting, for spring brings field trips by the dozens to the museum. By 9:30, 84 fourth-graders from Grants Pass and a mathematics class from Ashland High School had the exhibits humming. Peals of laughter echoed in my office from the Bubble Room next door. It’s funny what you can tell about a school from the sounds through a wall. Perhaps their teachers explain about bubble shapes and look at the labels as crib notes to read aloud to their students. Some chaperones get lost in the wonder, side-by-side with the students. “Whoa! Look how big that one is!” they scream. Sometimes you only hear the kids — you can imagine that the adults are transfixed with a smartphone. No matter, this is free-choice learning. What’s the worst that can happen? I could tell today was a high-energy day with bubbles. At 10:15, our longtime volunteer, Leo, saved me from my morning blast of emails. “Chip, I need you to come and observe what’s going on out here,” he said with a knit brow and a carefully measured tone. Leo has a keen eye for what happens on Wednesdays because for 30 weeks of the year he works with school field trip groups. And he’s been doing it for more than a decade. When free day rolls around, he watches for learning opportunities when we get busy and today we are very busy. We effortlessly dodged bubbles as we walked into the exhibits and he started explaining, “There’s a group of learning and physically disabled students here. They were here last free Wednesday. Isn’t there something we can do to give them a better day to use the exhibits? It’s just so hard for them when we have so many people here.” Of course he was right. I asked him to give me a minute to figure out who they were with and why they chose free Wednesday as a matter of routine. The two chaperones and two youths with physical and learning disabilities were in Sportsology. Their wheelchairs were not an impediment to many of the exhibits, but ironically the wheelchair race exhibit didn’t accommodate their needs at all! (Note to self: Look at that more closely.) Their teachers explained to me that free Wednesdays allows their students to save their money for other field experiences. They always look for a great deal. I asked them if they like the crowds as part of the experience. “Oh, no,” the leader said, “We can’t even get into the Bubble Room on most days.” I responded, “Let me see what we can do about that for next time.” After a quick call to the nonprofit’s headquarters, we quickly figured out how to give them a family membership for all 32 clients so they can come anytime they wish without worrying about payment, crowds or scheduling for free day. Thanks to Leo, ScienceWorks was able to meet the needs of these two special visitors, as well as their whole school. Leo has this figured out. He embodies the philosophy of ScienceWorks. He proves that we truly do not serve 60,000 people each year — we serve one person, 60,000 times. When we do our job well, we share the wonders and joys of science, math, engineering and technology with everyone. Or should I say, we share the wonders with each person, time after time. Chip Lindsey is executive director of ScienceWorks Hands-on Museum in Ashland. By Chip Lindsey DailyTidings.com By Chip Lindsey Posted May. 19, 2015 at 1:29 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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