The Greensboro Children’s Museum is one of the most popular

volunteer sites for Aggies and children alike on MLK day.

The Greensboro Children’s Museum is one of the most popular volunteer sites for Aggies and children alike on MLK day.

“This is the crown and jewel of all of our other community service sites,” said Nichole Florence, associate director for programs at N.C. A&T State and Co-Chair of the Committee Responsible for the MLK University Observances.

Since 2009, the museum has opened its doors for the children in Greensboro.

Inside the children get to partake in all of the fun but educational exhibits.

Usually the museum is only open to its members or those who pay an admissions fee. However, according to Florence, on MLK Day A&T dissolves the cost so the children are able to come for free.

In fact the entire community service event is coordinated by A&T. “Before 2009 we had kids come on campus and we would facilitate events for them to participate in,” said Florence.

“We partnered with the museum because aesthetically it was so much easier for the children to play.” Florence also added that, “the museum has been a great help providing the support that we need.”

The museum’s marketing director, Althea Hall, agrees that the partnership between them and A&T has been a good one. “We’re really happy that we’ve done this,” she said. “A&T is part of the culture and fabric of Greensboro. We feel honored to host such an event.”

The museum is geared towards providing an educational opportunity for children as well as fun. Each exhibit has an educational component.

In addition to partaking in the exhibits the children were also taught about Martin Luther King Jr. and encouraged by the mentors/volunteers to “dream big.”

“I chose to come here because kids are our future,” said SGA president Christian Robinson.

“Seeing us college students and getting a chance to talk to us exposes them to such possibilities. They can meet me and learn that I go to A&T and then think to themselves that they may be able to go to A&T too one day,”

Jamaal Conyars has been bringing his 6-year-old daughter to this event for the past five years.

He too feels like the mentors/volunteers have an impact on the kids because he feels other adults talking to them besides their parents can be impactful.

A&T students were able to sign up to volunteer through the Office of Career Services using orgsync.com. The first 40 volunteers to sign up were chosen and broken up into two shifts: 12:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. C.A.S.E. hours were given.

Volunteers were placed at various exhibits such as a Curious George town, trains, fire trucks, police cars, play kitchens, grocery stores, a theatre stage, face painting, a reading room and more.

“One little girl told me she couldn’t read and we ended up reading a whole book together. That was the highlight of my day,” said Isiah Guinyard, a junior elementary education major.

This year the committee reached out to children through the school systems, resulting in a more diverse group kids. “We saw lots of kids of all races come together and play, which goes with what MLK preached,” said Meagan Morgan, a junior computer science major.

It seemed that everyone from the museum staff to the volunteers to the parents and their children enjoyed what this event had to offer.

VPIA Mitchell Brown even added that he wished his town had something like this to offer children on MLK day.

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• Sylvia Obell, Managing Editor