WHS students participate in Museum Ambassadors program

Ten Westlake High School students are participating in the Cleveland Museum of Art Museum Ambassadors program, a behind-the-scenes experience designed to build awareness of museum life and careers, as well as general career skills.

Ten Westlake High School AP Art History and International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge students will participate in the Cleveland Museum of Art Museum Ambassadors program that provides a behind-the-scenes experience at the world-class institution.

The program is open to only six schools in Northeast Ohio. This is WHS’ sixth year in the program.

Students are selected by social studies teacher Beth Noren through an application process. This year’s participants are Kat Bowe, Leah Bunner, Hena Delic, Alex Falcone, Jackie Moracz, Abbey Moutoux, Lily Powers, Bridget Quinn, Isabelle Southern and Adam Yusoff.

The program has students participating in behind-the-scenes experiences in various departments at the Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as similar experiences at other University Circle institutions, including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Cleveland Children’s Museum.

The program is designed to build a general awareness of museum life and careers, as well as to build career skills, including public speaking and team-based project planning. This year students will be working in different areas of the museum, including art restoration, education, curating, marketing and research.

The focus this year is how to bring teens into the museum by way of developing a Teen Guide and a variety of Teen Tours using the museum’s Artlens mobile application. Last year’s WHS ambassadors – Gwynnie Ball, Jade Hawk and Rachael Kaiser – had their design selected for the museum’s current teen guide.

The museum aligned this year’s program with state education standards and the aim to develop 21st century skills. Each session, students are asked to solve problems relating to real-world situations occurring in the museum and other places of employment. Students will present their ideas and solutions to other students. They also will work in small teams with students from other schools using technology and multimedia. By analyzing gallery space, logos and art, students develop an awareness of the visual information around them.

These WHS ambassadors will visit the museums once a month October through May for the program. They will develop a project for a Family and Community Day next spring that will complement the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gallery One space. Other schools involved in the program are Bedford High School, Cleveland School of the Arts, Shaker Heights High School, John Hay High School and MC2STEM High School.

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Volume 9, Issue 21, Posted 9:54 AM, 11.07.2017