Its Spooktacular! Its Spectacular! Its Halloween Time at the Museum!

It is October and Halloween is right around the corner and the Museum is sure getting ready for it! We have some great events coming up that we would love for you to attend!

First up is the Graham Cracker Haunted Houses Class! Taking place on Thursday October 22 is a fun time- full of creativity and candy! If you have been to one of the candy house workshops in December then your kids will love this! Using graham crackers, frosting and Halloween treats kids can create their own Haunted House masterpiece- that is not only cool to look at but delicious to eat!

It is a class and pre-registration is required, so sign up early by calling the Museum at (508) 230-3789 to save your child a space for this fun, seasonal class. For museum members the cost is $10.00 and for non-museum members the price is $13.00. There are also two sessions: the first session, for children ages 3-5, will take place from 10-11 am; the second session, for children ages 5 and up will take place at the later time of 4-5 pm. We hope to see you there!


But that is not all- we are gearing up for our BIG Halloween Celebration- the Halloween Romp! The Halloween Romp will take place rain or shine at the Museum on Saturday, October 24 with two spooktacular times: 2 - 4 p.m. or 6 – 8 p.m.

It will be a fantastic day of games and Halloween crafts, trick-or-treat bag decorating, fortune telling, a creepy animal show with New England Reptile and Raptor, spooky music and games, and much more! You can even go on a chilling lantern lit trick-or-treat romp through The Wild Place! Tickets to the Romp are $4.00 per person for members and $8.00 per person for non-members. Space is limited so please call early to reserve your tickets.

It is a great way for both parents and kids to take part celebrating Halloween! Games, activities, candy and costumes! What could be better? Also kids and parents makes sure to wear your costumes to the great event!

And on October 30th from 10:00-11:00 am we will be hosting a great Got Milk? event! Did you know that Chocolate milk is the official drink of Halloween? We will be having an afternoon devoted to this chocolaty drink, learn about the bone-building benefits of milk, take a picture with a milk mustache and of course sample some chocolate milk!

As you can see the Museum loves Halloween and can't wait! Can you? We hope to see you at these great events! For more information either call the Museum at (508) 230-3789 or visit our website!

A "FETCHing" Friday!!

Friday was a very special day at the Museum- from FETCH! we had Ruff Ruffman and Season 3 "FETCHer" Harsha came to visit! It was one fun-filled day here!

There were all kinds of things going on including a Q&A with Harsha. She told us a lot of interesting things like how it was to audition for the show. Harsha said that the key to auditioning is to be yourself and to not worry about the camera, advice she gave to anyone out in the audience who may be thinking of auditioning for an upcoming season. She also told us what her favorite challenge was: scavenger hunt in Boston!

A lot of those in the audience agreed that scavenger hunts were fun, and when asked if they would join a scavenger hunt club a lot of hands were raised! Looks like a lot of kids want to have their own scavenger hunting adventures like Harsha does too!

While Harsha was not the grand champ of the season it was ok since she had such an awesome experience and made friends with the rest of her cast of "FETCHers!"

After the Q&A kids got to meet Harsha and Ruff himself as they signed autographs and took pictures! Not to mention we got to have cake, before lunch too! Talk about a cool day! Meeting a tv star and cake! What could be better!?

There were also other fun activities going on in the Wild Place! There was coloring activities where kids got to color and decorate pictures of Ruff, which he then signed! Other fun activities included making a kaleidoscope! It was a great day!

Be sure to check out FETCH! when Season 4 premieres with a very special, almost all animated, episode on the 11th of September on your local PBS station.

Also this was our last Summer Drop-In-Day, we hope you have enjoyed them as much as we have! Be sure to look for some fun fall activities coming your way, like the Scarecrow Stomp or the Halloween Romp!

An American Educator in South Korea

We welcome you to our new series! If you are reading this you have stumbled upon something truly special! Today we proudly introduce to you Maria Mataragas, one of our volunteers (you may remember her as the Fortune Teller at last years Halloween Romp amongst other roles.) We are pleased that Ms. Mataragas has agreed to let us into the life of a traveling education innovator!

Teacher is a position of highest value in all cultures. Every country and person around the world is shaped by the knowledge, passion and kindness of this special group of dedicated individuals! With the economy here in the states leaving something to be desired and less steady jobs available more and more of our recently graduated and young teachers are answering the call of duty in nations across the globe. The lure of steady pay and the adventure of travel can seem almost too good to be true

Maria is a passionate educator whose involvement in teaching has carried her from one side of the Earth to the other. She now makes her home in Gangneung, South Korea, bringing lessons she learned in the states and at the Museum to the upcoming generation of enthusiastic learners! Her love of innovative teaching techniques and hands on learning through engagement makes her a leader of a new generation of teachers! Maria will be contributing articles for us about education & culture. She will also be twittering for us, keeping us all up to date on what's going on in international education and answering any and all of your questions! Check her out www.twitter.com/MariaCME. Without further adieu, here she is!

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Education is of special value. Whether it is teaching a large or a small class, the key point of success in education is to have the students trust you. Once trust is placed, everything else is easy.

This is how I felt in America. I was a Title I Reading Tutor in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. The school I instructed was the most beautiful, well organized and above all, caring environment I’ve ever worked in. This school inspired me to become an educator. The love I feel for teaching was equally matched to the love I hold for traveling.

With the recession, my job for Title I Reading was cut. As I joined others for the enormous job hunt, many websites about teaching abroad jumped directly unto my attention. The itch for travel became stronger with every resume, cover letter and email I sent to companies, schools and other businesses. Finally, the decision to teach abroad was apparent. I applied. I got the job. I left.

I teach in Solol (straight pine tree of the sea) Middle School in Gangneung, South Korea. The school is very professional, very strict with guidelines for students to abide. Guidelines such as uniforms, hair length, types of glasses and shoes are targeted and must be followed. Individuality and expressing oneself through creativity is prohibited. Studying for the purpose of exams is education according to my school. If a student breaks the rules punishment is physically severe, something which an American parent would never tolerate.

Korean students have a mounting pressure put upon them due to competitive reputations. South Korea is a community based country; everything is done together and shared. Every family name is known in this association of people and neighborhood. If a child succeeds or fails, the reflection is upon the parent’s ability or inability to provide for their child’s education. The only way to prevent their reputation from being tarnished in the community is to send their children to private schools until the late evening. For example, my students come to school at 8 a.m., stay for an after-school program until 4:30 p.m., then go to a private school for each subject that they are not passing. They don’t go home until 11:30 p.m.

I’m an American and I know what it’s like to be a child and get dirty with scraped knees. That is the spirit of being a child. American children are allowed to run wild with their imaginations, get paint on their cheeks and have gum stuck in their hair. Being a teacher to American children means I get to understand them more, help guide them to achieve any dream they want, as long as they know they can do it. Being a teacher in South Korea, the freedom to choose, the freedom to express, the freedom to get dirty and get to understand the children is not entirely there, because their future is already molded for them. These children are only allowed to study and work. From an American point of view, their childhood is taken away from them; however from a South Korean point of view, their future is being built.

Happy Halloween!

Hi! I'm Eliza, but if you stopped by our Halloween Romp last Saturday you might know me as the tooth fairy. To get into the Halloween spirit a couple of my friends and I went to a haunted house put together by a couple students from Mansfield High School. They did such a great job! I was so completely scared and had no idea what was coming for me next. The best part about this haunted house was that all the money they would go straight to the Mansfield Animal Shelter. One night alone raised just about 3,500 dollars, that's awesome! After being so scared from the haunted house I decided to carve a friendly pumpkin, not to mention the easiest pattern I could find. It came out pretty..well friendly. So what where you for Halloween? I ended up putting my tooth fairy costume with my very large but very pretty wings and took out my basket and became little red riding hood. My favorite story of all time! Halloween being the great holiday of free candy I had to go trick or treating. My friends and I went to every single house on the block, and when our bags were filled we went home and decided to count our candy. I have so much candy it's going to last me til Christmas!

Being in the Halloween spirit I have always wanted to know how witches' cauldrons bubble and in the Fetch! Lab this week I finally got a chance to find out how. If you too want to know how witches' do it find out here! If there is enough room in your stomach after eating all that Halloween candy come and visit Megan and I have a lot of cool things coming up this week, including making ice cream! We have even started our very own Fetch! Club and we want you to join! When you stop by we can sign you up and then make sure you keep coming back to complete six challenges to receive a pretty cool prize! Also make sure you stop by before Tuesday, November 4th to vote for your favorite animal! Grown-ups aren't the only ones who can vote!

Oh ya! By the way this week instead of coming in on Tuesday, I'll be here Thursday and November 11th Veterans Day 10-4pm because its exploding rainbows that day!