Sparking Curiosity: A message from Kelly Brault, DSC Senior Development Manager

Below is a guest blogger entry from Kelly Brault, our Senior Development Manager. The pictures throughout are of her son Lucas in action at the DSC.

As a mom of two young boys, we make regular trips to the Detroit Science Center when I’m not working there. Although my older son, Lucas, who is four years old would tell you that we don’t visit nearly often enough. He is always asking to go and usually has a specific mission in mind. While Kids Town is built just for my children’s age group (up to age five, actually), Lucas likes everything at the Science Center.

His last mission was to play with the water rockets. His plan: he would put in the water and his uncle who was visiting from Texas would put in the air. He told me all of this before we left the house and I was shocked that he remembered how to make water rockets “go.” Once this mission was accomplished several dozen times, he took in Secrets of the Cardboard Rocket in the Dassault Systèmes Planetarium (did you know that planetarium shows are FREE now?). As he sat on my lap during that show, he was completely captivated. He didn’t say a word until the end. Then it was non-stop questions about all things astronomy. I could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. He still asks questions about astronomy at very random times which tells me that he was really impacted and thinks about this show often. I think that there is truly and opening in his mind, where he will be excited to learn more about astronomy because of this experience.

I think that continuing to bring him has helped ignite that spark of interest. We can visit as long or short as we’d like with our membership and therefore keep his interest rather than overwhelm him.

It’s important to realize that membership and admission fees only cover a portion of the Science Center’s costs. The Science Center continues to put new exhibits on the floor all the time. The water rockets have only been on the floor for a little over a year and Kids Town opened a little over two years ago and there are many other projects recently built and on the way. Keeping the Science Center operating on a daily basis in the City of Detroit (not supported by the City) alone is expensive. But continuing to add value and enrich the experience is what sets the Detroit Science Center apart.

I hope that other families will join me in making a tax-deductible gift to the Detroit Science Center this year. Even modest amounts add up to make an incredible difference, so don’t think that you aren’t needed. You can give make your gift online or call our development office and I will be on hand to personally take your call (313.577.8400, ext. 241).

My younger son is just over a year old. I hope that the generosity of the families of metro Detroit will help the Science Center continue to persevere and grow so he too will be able to explore and open his mind to enjoy science as much as his brother does.

Many thanks in advance!
Kelly Brault
Senior Development Manager