Flint Hills Discovery Center (FHDC) is offering subsidized opportunities direct to the home or homerooms of those in the community, and is available to any K-12 public, private, self-taught, or ancestral school situated in Kansas.
Priority will be given to schools and projects situated inside the 21 province Flint Hills Ecological Region and applications are presently open for these schools. Any remaining Kansas schools will be considered beginning February 15th.
Notwithstanding the intelligent virtual program, schools will get a program asset delivered by staff or via the post office loaded up with active supplies. Singular projects are restricted to a limit of 30 students and created by state guidelines and core concepts.
There are 30 complete virtual program scholarships that will be advertised. Every scholarship covers the virtual program charge, transportation of assets to the students, and consumable inventory costs for one of the five qualified virtual projects advertised.
Assistant Director of Development Kendra Kuhlman said this program has been live since Monday, and already received several applications. Kuhlman states the public has, “not filled the program by any means, but it has been received very well”, and is the result of “the grants that we wrote to the “Beach Family Foundation”.
“Part of that grant was for additional virtual technology equipment to make programs like this possible as we’ve had to pivot, obviously, with with COVID. So the 30 pilot programs as part of the funding that we received from the grant is our kickoff,” Kuhlman said. “They’re sort of our test classes, so we get to try out our equipment and the classrooms, which most cannot do, as many aren’t doing any field trips this spring. So then classrooms have the opportunity to try our virtual field trip experience, and it’s kind of a win win as we see it.”
Pricing for these programs is broken down between a half hour virtual program at $65, and a one hour virtual program at $100. Kuhlman said when FHDC wrote these 30 programs in, prices are based on those costs.
“I don’t know the exact equipment costs, but we realized a lot of our equipment was outdated, and we just didn’t have the sound capabilities, microphones, things like that. So it’s kind of a half and half split, so half for the scholarships, half the equipment,” Kuhlman said. “Our Flint Hills Discovery Center Foundation based their support multiple ways, with much of it from the Beach grants But we always rely on our foundation for additional costs, such as, mailing the program boxes or any associated costs that may not have written into the grant.”
Kuhlman said the FHDC just did a round of ‘Kansas Day’, 30 minute workshop experiences, headed by Education Director Steven Bridenstine.
“He led different classrooms in 30 minute interactive zoom sessions, the day before Kansas Day and on the day of he went through all of the many state symbols. He also we had a box turtle on site and a salamander,” Kuhlman said. “And so it was a chance for classrooms to interact, learn about Kansas Day and ask questions and also see a couple of our little on site animals. It was a nice way for him to to test out the equipment and we got excellent feedback, I will say as far as audio quality was very positive for us to hear.”
Looking back on last year, Kuhlman says 2020 started out very positively, as membership and attendance was increasing from the previous year, and FHDC had planned a Flint Hills Festival, which is done annually.
“We had revamped that and expanded it, and planned to make it an even bigger festival. We ended up of course, canceling that as well as the summer exhibit called ‘Big League Fun’ that was supposed to come summer of 2020,” Kuhlman said. “It was an all baseball themed exhibit, including several partners, K-state Athletics, we had some Kansas City sport partners, it was to be a very big exhibit. Luckily, we were able to transfer that to summer of 2022. So we’re so happy we were able to do that.”
Peering into the future plans of the FHDC, Kuhlman says they geared up for a pretty big year with on-site programming, their camps, and initiatives starting.
“Tour groups would start at the Discovery Center and then we take them into the Flint Hills to hike over at the concept Biological Station. There are trails that are out there, that we had plans for expanding that program and you know, we had several things in place that we’ve just heartbreakingly had to pivot and either cancel or we just have to figure out another way to offer programming that’s relevant but also we’re attempting to remain a business,” Kuhlman said. “That’s where we have gone, and I think the virtual experiences has been a really, something that we were forced to do. But I also think it’s something we can carry into the future and offer both on site and virtual opportunities to reach our message even further. So it was a forced pivot, but I think the outcome will just help us reach further.”
As for what is around the corner, and what is currently being offered at FHDC Kuhlman draws attention to their current exhibit called “Run! Jump! Fly! Adventures in Action” geared towards families. Kuhlman said “it’s encouraging families to get active, with various stations throughout the exhibit.” Among those stations there’s yoga offered in the hopes that even if patrons engage virtually, all will have access to “health and wellness kinds of activities throughout the screen.”
In closing, Kuhlman said she is very excited about the virtual programs and having this capability really does open up their potential, even when it is safer to gather in person.
“Our mission is really just to get information about the Foothills Eco region out as far as we can, and this just helps us reach that mission and message even further,” Kuhlman said. “This has been a positive outcome, even while it has been a disappointing end for some of our very big plans. But I think that we’ve done a really good job trying to stay relevant, and offering a variety of programs to different ages.”
“Next week, we actually are having a member Appreciation Week. So we’re opening a little bit early on Monday, just for members, and then we’re opening a bit early on Friday and on Saturday for some members only animal interactive and craft opportunities,” Kuhlman said. “We realize we are so appreciative of our members that have stuck with us because we haven’t been able to offer as many member benefits as we have in the past, and we just really want to thank and honor our members that have stuck with us through this very challenging year.”
For more information and to apply, visit www.flinthillsdiscovery.org/VirtualScholarships, call 785-587-2726 or visit 315 S. 3rd St. in Manhattan.
