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Learning Histories
Charting the Course In spring 1997, after an expanded proposal was presented to Memorial's Hospital and Foundation Boards, the concept was approved (along with a $1,500,000 addition to the HealthPlex construction project to properly expand the new facility) allowing for a new floor of the building to be dedicated to an interactive children's health education center. Initial financing goals included $1.5 million to create the shell; $1.0 million to do build out the facility, wall coverings, carpet, ceiling, etc; and, $2.5 million in private fund-raising from new sources. Once the additional funding was approved, discussions with the building designers and other departments began. Since the new health club would be designed around a nature theme, ways to tie the children's learning center to this theme were pursued. To compliment the nature theme, a working title, Healthy Living Land, was adopted for the children's health education center. To move the project to the next phase Memorial needed to bring design experts onto the project planning team. After visiting several facilities around the country, two experienced museum exhibit consultants were recommended, GED from Chicago, Illinois and Jeff Kennedy & Associates, from Boston, Massachusetts. Memorial selected Jeff Kennedy & Associates, Inc. to act as Healthy Living Land facility designers. Planners continued to obtain information about the latest and most innovative concepts in children's museum design and development strategies. To this end, Phil Newbold, Memorial's President and CEO, Diane Stover, Memorial Hospital Vice President of Marketing and Communications, and Reg Wagle, Vice President Memorial Health Foundation organized a National Innovators Summit in Chicago, Illinois on August 30, 1997. In order to move to the next highest level of information collection and learning, Memorial needed to bring together some of the best minds in the country from various disciplines. They included: Leanne Kaiser, Kaiser Consulting Network, Inc., Brighton, Colorado; Nancy DiLaura, Ruth Lilly Center for Health Education, Indianapolis, Indiana; Jeff Kennedy, Jeff Kennedy Assoicates, Somerville, Massachusetts; Mary Newbold, South Bend, Indiana; Peter Rusin, JFK HealthWorld, Barrington, Illinois; Ame Simon, Seattle Washington; Jeanette Simon, Memorial Health Foundation, South Bend, Indiana; Gregory Sprick, Jeff Kennedy Assoicates; Jim Welling, Ph.D. Penn-Harris-Madison School Corp., South Bend, Indiana; Phillip Ziring, M.D. Cook County Children's Hospital. The purpose of the National Innovators Summit was to bring together experts from many disciplines for a one-day discussion and creative learning exchange on ways to reach children with health education messages. In coming years, this "virtual" team of professionals continued to serve as advisors, consultants and as a sounding board for issues as development continues to and through the opening of the education center. The National Innovators Summit held in Chicago was very helpful. It assisted the leadership by providing a forum to discuss very new ideas and emerging innovations. It also helped Memorial to forge a strong and lasting relationship with not only JFK Health World (Barrington, IL) administrators but other education professionals whose expertise and advise would be valuable throughout the entire development process. By staging the Chicago real-time, real-place meeting, the Memorial team immediately achieved "team-bonding" that served notice that Memorial was serious about this enterprise; and, it created momentum for a diverse team of friends. Then, in the fall of 1997, Memorial began discussions with the building construction interests and the museum designers. Key decisions about infrastructure issues and traffic patterns within the building were made. Diane Stover, VP Memorial Hospital, remembers, "We really needed to start the discussions about facility support requirement earlier in the planning process." These recommendations will help others avoid expensive changes later in the planning process. From the beginning, Memorial's planning group realized that it would be of critical importance to obtain community input and achieve community ownership throughout the process. To this end an advisory committee structure was developed (see Box #1) for the purpose of providing a panel of experts from which to draw advice. The idea of the Community Oversight Committees was invented in part to get input from some of the same kinds of professional experts from various disciplines, much like the National Innovators Summit. Equally important was gathering a very diverse representation from the broader community to get reactions and input from individuals who had their pulse on the issues and the market. These committees were the first circle from which, over time, Memorial would achieve linkages to many dozens of "subsystems" or "networks" that make up a community (schools, religious congregations, social services agencies, government, neighborhoods, etc.). Memorial found that integrating all of these subsystems was critical to achieving the full community ownership that would make this a successful endeavor. Organization:
Committee Structure:
Thirty nine members of the Community Advisory Committees and the design team were involved in the first meeting on February 17, 1998. Phil Newbold, Memorial Health System and Hospital President and CEO, began the meeting with an explanation of the importance of innovation in reaching kids. He asked each member to contribute their creativity, ideas and information to this process. He explained that the hospital would not be asking them for money or to help them fund raise. Phil began the meeting by emphasizing that the museum must be a safe and stimulating environment for kids; and that in creating this type of environment they would need to assume new ways of thinking. He told the participants, "With our 10-15 years work in neighborhoods, we've discovered we need radically new models. The old ones are not working. We need to examine new models and new thinking. We cannot count on Scout Troops, parents, and schools in our children's development. We have a new generation of kids. We want to make the best of the next generation. Many kids learn by external structures (content and values). As kids grow they take external structures and internalize them. Not every child has an equal opportunity to make healthy choices." As a way to encourage the committee to "think outside the box," Memorial set out to shatter any preconceived notions of a proper "business meeting." First of all, several children were asked to attend the meeting. They would, after all, be the primary users of the facility and were therefore its most important stakeholders. The kids sat in a circle and were asked questions about health. Their responses (below) were interesting and helpful in setting the stage for the meeting discussion. Children's Responses to Questions What does it mean to be healthy?
What do you do at home to be healthy?
If you were in charge of building a place what would have to be there?
What have been your favorite school bus trips?
Committee members then sat at tables that were covered with construction paper. Crayons were available at each seat and each person was asked to write down childhood memories of their first school bus trip. This exercise helped the adults think about creating a museum from a child's perspective, and was a starting place for "thinking outside the box." They were also asked to think about an innovative center and write down ideas about how to make it the best possible experience for the children in the community. The papers were then thrown into a basketball hoop in the middle of the room. Memorial's experiment proved fruitful. The very creative and fun meeting generated equally fun and creative ideas. Thinking Outside the Box In the winter of 1997, hospital administrators, using the input from all the many dialogues, drafted and redrafted goals and objectives for the facility. The design team from Jeff Kennedy & Associates, Inc. was consulted and both local and national resources were used to gather information and data used in designing the goals and objectives. This would be used as a starting point for discussion with the committee members. As a guide for the facility design team, Memorial staff created an exhibit overview chart that included key subject areas and a planning checklist. What are our goals for a child's learning experience at "Healthy Living Land"?
Memorial Healthy Living Land Museum Overview Chart Key Subject Areas:
Exhibit Planning Checklist:
In order to reduce costs for consultant travel and meeting time, a calendar was developed by Memorial staff and Kennedy staff that would allow for some on-site meeting time and video conferencing meeting time. This arrangement meant significant cost savings to Memorial. However, there is great value to meeting in-person; this is where a trusting and creative partnership grows. According to Diane Stover, Project Coordinator, "Interactive video meetings allow for great nuts and bolts discussions without the travel hassles. It is easy to review documents and checklists this way and still have the ability to negotiate real time. But, face-to-face meetings should not be underestimated, a trusting relationship is important to the success of the project." |
