Comment
Print
The FACTORY, along with KidSenses Children's Interactive Museum, and the Discovery Garden will comprise a 27,000 square foot campus. This complex will be a flagship family destination for western North Carolina, educating our children while generating revenue for our community and spawning new growth.
"We are very grateful to the Dogwood Health Trust for their generous gift in support of The FACTORY. This grant award comes at the perfect time, as we are now commencing the final construction phase of the project. The Dogwood Health trust is committed to principles of inclusion, and equity - supporting innovative approaches to education and wellness. These values and activities are wholly consistent with our goals." said Willard Whitson KidSenses' Executive Director.
"Dogwood is pleased to support such a high-quality children's museum in our region, and especially to support the museum's expansion into offering out-of-school academic and experiential activities for adolescents, a group often without options for safe and engaging learning opportunities outside of the classroom," said Ereka Williams, Ph.D., Vice President-Education at Dogwood Health Trust.
Planned activities for The FACTORY are inspired by the international "maker" movement. Engagement Zones will provide opportunities for youth to acquire the knowledge, and develop the skills and attitudes necessary to succeed in the modern work environment. Activities will focus on information technology, robotics and artificial intelligence, food and nutrition, and engineering, among others. Visitors will be encouraged to develop novel and adaptive thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit within a highly collaborative environment.
With our remarkable brains and our ability to use tools, we make things. We make all kinds of things. We make movies, cars, books, games, tools, art, music, furniture, medicine, food, space ships, and so much more. We also make friends and collaborate, giving us the opportunity to learn from each other and maximize our output. In The FACTORY, our young visitors will find the tools they need to create and the opportunity to converse and exchange ideas.
What began as a project that we estimated would cost between two and three million dollars, has now become a more expensive undertaking, due in no small part to Covid-related delays and dramatic increases in the costs of labor, construction material and equipment. We have now raised over three and a half million dollars toward a goal of four and a half million. We plan to open The FACTORY in late 2023. Thanks to the Dogwood Health Trust we are now closer to making The FACTORY a reality.
KidSenses Children's Interactive Museum is located at 172 N. Main Street in Historic Downtown Rutherfordton. For information about the museum, and for more information about the Museum and donating to the FACTORY expansion, please visit www.kidsenses.org or www.factorymuseum.org. Be sure to "Like us" on Facebook! Press Contact: Willard Whitson, Executive Director, willard@kidsenses.org, 828-286-2120.
