Virginia Association of Museums

The Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) will work with an Advisory Council of educators and museum professionals to create educational programming in museums that more strongly meet the instructional needs of teachers. Museums offer experiential learning opportunities that cannot be duplicated in the classroom. VAM will create training tools to assist museum educators in creating, improving, or updating their educational programming in support of Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOLs). These tools will be disseminated to all Virginia museums. Grant funds will also enable VAM to upgrade its Web site so teachers can more easily find educational programs that support the SOLs in museums throughout the state. Funding will also support the presentation of workshops and podcasts to familiarize museums with the new resources.