Media Room Strategic Initiative Partnerships & Resource Development

Shortino Foundation’s $25,000 Award Makes a Difference for Local Youth

May 3, 2018

Local at-risk youth from low-income families will learn about video and digital media, experience the joys of community service, and make new friends in the museum’s youth programs, thanks to a $25,000 grant from The Shortino Foundation. The funds will support free and subsidized registration for teens in three museum youth programs. Learn More

Community Service Learning, Creativity through the Arts, General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Local Hero and Former Astronaut Steve Smith to Receive Legacy Award

May 1, 2018

This year's Legacy for Children Award honoree is out-of-this-world. Former astronaut and local resident Steve Smith is a remarkable role model who inspires young people to pursue their dreams with confidence, tenacity, and courage. After four rejections from NASA, Smith was accepted into the astronaut program at age 33. At 35 he traveled into space and became one of America's most experienced astronauts who now captivates audiences around the country as a motivational speaker. Learn More

Early Childhood Development, General Museum, Partnerships & Resource Development, Science Learning

Museum Joins “Museums for All” National Access Program

February 22, 2018

Now even more families from all backgrounds can visit the museum through Museums for All, a national access program that enables qualifying families to visit the museum for the low rate of $2 per person for up to four people. Families simply present one of the following: Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card, Medi-Cal Benefits Identification Card (BIC) card, or a Women, Infants and Children Nutrition (WIC) folder. This national initiative represents a huge step in the goal of reaching more children and parents, especially those living in poverty, with the valuable educational resources of hands-on learning. Learn More

General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Thousands Celebrate 20th Anniversary of The Three Kings Event

The Mercury News
January 7, 2018

Twenty-one years ago the museum launched The Three Kings Celebration as a way to introduce the museum to the large Latino community. This success served as a model for helping the museum meet the changing needs and demographics of Bay Area families and children. Learn More

Creativity through the Arts, Early Childhood Development, General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Immersive Mural Boldly Transforms Museum Entryway

El Observador
December 8, 2017

The museum's massive stucco-covered entry has been transformed into a pallet of brightly colored imagery and bold symbols inspired from community input. Acclaimed multi-media artist Jaque Fragua of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, and local curator Juan Carlos Araujo of Empire 7 Studios created the iconographic motifs based on design ideas submitted by 50 Rocketship Alma Academy 2nd – 5th-grade students, EY corporate volunteers, and museum staff. The project supports the museum’s strategic commitment, Creativity through the Arts, and is part of Community Pathways, the museum’s pilot program funded by San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs to activate the spaces outside the museum. Learn More

Creativity through the Arts, Early Childhood Development, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Immersive Mural Transforms Enormous Covered Entryway

November 30, 2017

Creativity is ignited every day inside the museum's purple walls. Now visitors' creative juices will be stoked as they approach the museum. Acclaimed multi-media artist Jaque Fragua of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico is transforming the museum’s massive stucco covered-entry into a pallet of brightly colored imagery and bold symbols sparked from community input. The artist created the iconographic motifs based on design ideas submitted by 50 Rocketship Alma Academy 2nd – 5th grade students, EY corporate volunteers, and museum staff. Learn More

Community Service Learning, Creativity through the Arts, General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Mural-cle of a Makeover

The Mercury News
November 30, 2017

Big, bold, and bright. That's the best way to describe the museum's new mural. Using only the simplest of materials - paint, brushes, and rollers, the mural artists Jaque Fragua and curator Juan Carlos Araujo have transformed the museum's plain, stucco entryway into a stunningly beautiful and welcoming space celebrating creativity and community-building. Learn More

Community Service Learning, Creativity through the Arts, General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Nature NOW! Bill’s Backyard Opens Oct. 29

Red Tricycle
October 22, 2017

Go outside and play. This sentiment is often at odds with the valley's tech-heavy culture, especially in the Bay Area. To encourage kids to put down their devices and engage with the outdoors, Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose recently doubled its exhibit space to add a new outdoor exhibit, Bill’s Backyard: Bridge to Nature, and it’s the tree house and dig pit of childhood dreams. Every detail was meticulously planned from the living roof on the junior ranger station to the life-sized bronze animals hidden throughout the exhibit. Learn More

Early Childhood Development, Environmental Stewardship, Exhibition Development, General Museum, Partnerships & Resource Development, Science Learning

Seventy-five Charming Third Graders Help Dedicate Bill’s Backyard

The Mercury News
October 20, 2017

The same kids who tossed seeds into a patch of dirt last November burst through a commemorative ribbon and helped dedicate the museum's new outdoor space, Bill's Backyard: Bridge to Nature, on Thursday. Mayor Sam Liccardo, Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, and representatives from the visionary donors including Open Space Authority Santa Clara County, the California Coastal Conservancy, FIRST 5 Santa Clara County, and Agilent Technologies were among many who were on-hand to mark the occasion and speak about the importance of this new outdoor learning environment to children and the entire region. Learn More

Early Childhood Development, Environmental Stewardship, Exhibition Development, General Museum, Partnerships & Resource Development, Science Learning

El Día de los Tres Reyes Magos 20th Anniversary Celebration

January 5, 2018

Freddie, the camel, and Beverly, the mini-donkey, will be the star attraction in a ceremonial procession to kick off the 20th anniversary of the Three Kings weekend. The festivities will bring to life rich traditions and colorful customs of family, gift-giving, music and the arts, based on the Three Kings observances in many Spanish-speaking countries. Visitors can try their hand at papel picado, tortilla-making, sample Rosca De Reyes bread, and enjoy captivating music and dance performances. Learn More

Creativity through the Arts, General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development

Noon Year’s Eve Across the Time Zones: Our Version of the Ball Drop in Times Square

December 29, 2017

Celebrate the arrival of 2018 with the whole family by participating in the “countdown to noon across time zones” with family hugs, a noisy celebration, and the Museum’s version of the famous Ball Drop in Times Square with lots of confetti. At the ball drops, we give “shout outs” to different countries and what people in those countries might be doing at these times. Learn More

General Museum, Inclusion & Cultural Competence, Partnerships & Resource Development