Rio Nuevo Museum/School Partnership
2001-2004
Providing learning opportunities for the school community
as the City of Tucson embraces its past to define and create a better future.
Menlo Park student and oral historian Metaja Blackwater
holds a basket made by her great-aunt from the ASM collections.
Introduction
The Arizona State Museum (ASM) Rio Nuevo School Partnership was an educational
outreach component of Desert Archaeology, Inc.'s excavations in downtown Tucson
during the 2001-2004 school years. Designed to engage the school community in
the research and development phase of the Rio Nuevo redevelopment project, the
Partnership promoted and supported student exploration of local cultural heritage
and history.
Project Goal
To increase school community awareness of the rich cultural resources of
the Rio Nuevo Redevelopment District through community-based projects, archaeology,
multi-generational learning and multicultural studies.
Project Participants
Desert Archaeology, Inc., Arizona State Museum, and three TUSD schools each
year, including Davis Bilingual Magnet School, Lawrence Intermediate, Menlo
Park Elementary, and Carrillo Magnet School.
Partnership families at an ASM weekend event
Why Arizona State Museum?
The mission of ASM is to promote understanding of and respect for the peoples
and cultures of Arizona and surrounding regions. These complimentary goals,
along with a successful history of managing a previous museum/school partnership
and access to the extensive collections and expertise at the museum, made
ASM the ideal sponsor.
Why a Partnership?
Partnerships have been an innovative, effective way for museums and schools
to work together more cooperatively to enrich classroom curriculum, support
student success, and help teachers better utilize their community museum and
cultural resources.
“Great exhibits – as I mentioned before,
these children have learned a great deal and [we] actually have conversations
with our son of our history and cultures.”
“Obviously you worked very hard and learned much
about the history of Tucson and the many groups of people who contributed.”
—Parent comments from “Cultural Currents” exhibit
opening
Program Assumptions
- Children develop a sense of place, a sense of identity and a sense of pride
when they study and understand their community.
- Children learn to respect and celebrate diversity through multicultural
studies
- Individuals familiar with their cultural heritage are more likely to support
its preservation
- Educators who utilize current cultural resources are more likely to take
an interest in future cultural resources
Next: Partnership Details and Statistics
School Partnership Web Exhibitions
