The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today that Immerse program registration for the 2020/2021 school year is now open. Immerse allows classrooms to visit the GRPM for a completely immersive, week-long learning experience for students in schools from the West Michigan region.
The experience is crafted and led by the visiting teachers, leveraging the interpretive exhibition spaces, Museum artifacts, and various Museum programs. Immerse is intended to help students jump start their development as problem solvers, innovators, storytellers and empathetic contributors who value diversity.
“Immerse offers classrooms the opportunity to customize their learning experience that isn’t found anywhere else,” said Erin Koren, Director of Education at the GRPM. “This program connects curriculum requirements to real, tangible experiences that a text book doesn’t provide, through local stories, artifacts and specimens.”
Teachers, students and parents have shared the impact that having their classroom at the Museum has provided.
“Having the students able to see all of the artifacts and learn using these primary accounts. I would not be able to do this in our classroom to the same extent and interest level,” said Lilian Patrick, 4th grade teacher at Discovery Elementary in Kentwood Public Schools.
“The guided programs! My students got to do and touch so many things – artifacts and specimens and doing lab work. They learned a lot!” said Sung Pak, 5th grade teacher at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary, Grand Rapids Public Schools.
The Immerse program provides access to all core exhibits and add-on experiences for five days, including dedicated classroom space, individualized planning with Museum Education Staff to select guided education programs and planetarium shows that will address classroom goals and objectives, access to artifact and specimen discovery kits, as well as admission for students and their families to attend the program’s culminating showcase in the following spring.
Applications for the 2020/2021 program can be completed at grpm.org/Immerse. Capacity is limited, and classrooms will be notified of acceptance before the end of the 2019/2020 school year.
