Tyler

By LAUREN KEATON
Entertainment Editor

Parents Magazine has named Tyler's Discovery Science Place one of the top science centers in the nation -- a goal DSP officials said they have been diligently working toward and believe they have earned.

Executive Director Michael Shanklin said they were approached by the magazine in early 2008 and submitted the application in May.

"They wanted to know if we would be interested in throwing our information in the hat to be considered. So, we jumped through all the hoops and went to the next step," he said. "(The application) was a series of questions about our galleries, the ages they benefit, our programs, the interactive components here and the science involved."

Shanklin said he believes the museum is certainly set apart from other science centers in the state and around the country because they teach area kids to think outside the box.

"We have innovative exhibits, but we also are very involved in the community and there is a lot of involvement from the community," he said, adding their unconventional educational tools give East Texas kids a fun and interesting way to apply what they are learning in the classroom.

"We worked with Jones Elementary, who has a great staff. We saw their science scores jump from 76 percent (on the fifth grade TAKS test) last year to 93.5 percent. The museum team here believes that formal and informal education improves science literacy and it gives these kids a real confidence to approach life," Shanklin said.

Director of Marketing Vel Williamson said sometimes the exhibits and the museum itself often overshadow other equally vital services DSP provides.

"One of the things that people know us for is the museum and the exhibits," she said. "But, not a lot of people know that we serve thousands and thousands of people off site with our programs."

The three main exhibits at DSP are "Home Town," a replication of a small town to illustrate what it takes to make a community work; "Discovery Landing," which has more than 85 hands-on activities kids can manipulate and learn science through all their senses; and the traveling exhibit gallery, which is ever-changing and houses exhibits provided to them through national partnerships.

Recently, the "Weather Watchers" exhibit was taken down and they are getting ready to open their newest addition, "Color: The Science and Art of Seeing Light."

The opportunity to work with other science organizations on a national level is an exclusive opportunity that has propelled DSP toward distinction.

"Another thing that set us apart from other centers is we have national partnerships, specifically, with the Exploratorium in San Francisco -- which is the granddaddy of all science museums," Shanklin said. "Also, (we are involved with) the National Science Foundation and participate in a program called 'Nano Day,' which promotes Nanotechnology. We are putting Tyler on the national map as far as national partnerships."

Parents magazine conducted a survey of the more than 150 science centers in the U.S. and came up with a list of the country's 10 best science centers, with an emphasis on those catering to younger children with hands-on exhibits and family-friendly experiments.

They are the Center Of Science and Industry (COSI) in Columbus, Ohio; the Exploratorium in San Francisco; the Museum of Science in Boston; Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J.; the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis, Mo.; the New York Hall of Science in Flushing, Queens, in New York City; the California Science Center in Los Angeles; the Sci-Port Discovery Center in Shreveport, La.; the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia; and the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore.

Parents magazine also identified 15 runners-up. Along with the Discovery Science Place in Tyler, which was listed in this category, others include: Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana, Calif.; Detroit Science Center, Detroit; Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh; the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center, Mobile, Ala.; the Louisville Science Center, Louisville, Ky.; Pacific Science Center, Seattle; Wonderlab Museum of Science, Health, & Technology, Bloomingtown, Ind.; Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago; Discovery Place, Charlotte, N.C.; and The Children's Museum of Science and Technology, Troy, N.Y.; Sci-Works, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Science City at Union Station, in Kansas City, Mo.; Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, Calif.; and Montshire Museum of Science, Norwich, Vt.