Mid-Hudson Children's Museum

rdf:langString Mid-Hudson Children's Museum

rdf:langString Mid-Hudson Children's Museum

rdf:langString Mid-Hudson Children's Museum

rdf:langString Mid-Hudson Children's Museum

rdf:langString Jeffery Sasson

rdf:langString The Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum (MHDM) is a children's museum in the Hudson River Valley between the larger New York City and Albany markets. The museum is located in the historic waterfront in Poughkeepsie.MHDM is the region’s first and only hands-on science center. The Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum (MHDM) is the ideal destination for children and families. With exhibits that focus on early literacy, art, early STEM, health and the local community, the Museum welcomes 80,000 visitors each year and provides an educationally rich environment through which children have the opportunity to develop foundational skills, to engage in purposeful play, and to develop interpersonal connections. MHDM provides early learners impactful and nurturing programs and spaces that help foster imagination, creativity, socialization skills and the ability to understand the world around them. Founded in 1989 by a group of individuals in Poughkeepsie, the Mid-Hudson Children's Museum operated in donated spaces in the City of Poughkeepsie and then in the South Hills Mall for many years. In 2002, it moved to its current home at 75 North Water Street. The building is a mid-19th century industrial brick building that formerly housed Innis Dye Works. MHDM has three areas of programmatic focus that direct its work in exhibits and educational programs: school readiness, health and wellness, and community-building. Its galleries feature a variety of open-ended exhibits that encourage children to practice and develop age-appropriate cognitive, physical and emotional skills. In 2022, as a result of a strategic assessment and visioning process, MHDM extended the age range of the children it serves. With the addition of a new science exhibition and richer and more relevant STEM programming, it aims to elevate a child’s ability and appreciation for learning through age 12. As a result, it has been rebranded from the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum to the Mid-Hudson Discovery Center. In 2022, MHDM opened Science Revealed!, a dynamic science gallery that creates meaningful and memorable engagement for families with children up to age 12. The exhibition consists of 17 custom-made, hands-on science exhibits that invite visitors into full-body physical exploration of motion, air, forces, fluids and magnetism. In 2016 MHDM opened two new learning spaces: The Science Center @ MHDM to advance STEM education, and The Children’s Garden @ MHDM to teach families about growing their own food. The Museum is dedicated to engaging and serving a diverse audience of families from all socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds and of all abilities and needs through special admission and membership programs. In 2017, MHDM launched the Poughkeepsie Waterfront Market – a public farmers market bringing farm fresh produce to City of Poughkeepsie families, residents and visitors. The Market operates Monday afternoons in the Pavilion at MHDM from 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm, seasonally May through October. In September 2019, MHDM was awarded the international “2019 Leading Edge Award for Business Practice” by the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) in Toronto, ONT for its creation of the Poughkeepsie Waterfront Market. The board of directors of MHDM is composed of volunteers. The museum's current staff consists of thirteen employees. Upon reopening in late March of 2022, after two years of being closed, Theresa Mikoleski, stepped in to be the acting director until Jeffery Sasson, the current executive director, was hired in early June. The Mid-Hudson Discovery Museum is an independent 501(c)(3) not-for-profit educational organization that is supported by admission and membership sales, program fees, donations, and grants. MHDM is a member of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the Association of Children's Museums (ACM), the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), and the Museum Association of New York (MANY).