We write to thank you for all that we have accomplished with your past investment in the Museum and to ask you for your continued support. This Fall has tested confidence in most investments. We still offer a promising, long term investment in the curiosity and constructions of children.
Consider our work with marbles. Many toddlers read the flow of marbles through our marble wall long before they will decode words. Five year-olds marvel at the image inverted in Frederick’s* eye. Nine year-olds abstract the rules for pinball games. Teens construct intricate relays that test their inventiveness, precision and teamwork. No place distributes more marbles than this Museum.
At our best, we uncover the most direct and truthful experiments in learning. We may help build the stage. But the marbles perform—they always know nature’s script flawlessly. Children learn.
Our mission is simple. The enterprise is not. We need exerienced educators. And the abiding energy of countless apprentices. We need the space and time to blend the talents and visions of all kinds of students. We need wood and glue, markers and, of course, marbles. This year: a half ton of marbles.
When you give to our Annual Fund, you invest in an old fashioned enterprise. The return: measure it in the eyes of every child who recognizes the wisdom of marbles. That’s growth.
*Frederick by Leo Lionni, Knopf 1967
