Grant Proposal and Budget |1

101 West Washington Street

Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc.
Hagerstown, Maryland 21740
November 1, 2019

AIC and FAIC

American Institute for Conservation
727 15th Street, Northwest
Suite 500
Washington, District of Columbia 20005

Dear American Institute for Conservation:

On behalf of Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc., I am requesting a grant of $3,900. The
money from this grant will be used to cover the cost to have an assessment completed at the
museum to preserve the exhibits and the building itself. Our goal is to ensure that we can offer
the best learning experience possible for the children of our community.
Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc. is a nonprofit children’s museum located Hagerstown,
Maryland, and operates on charitable donations only. The museum consists of numerous
interactive exhibits including LEGO® Robotics and Education, Discovery Town, a builder’s
nook, and even an exhibit on Music of the Civil War. These are only a few of the amazing
exhibits that we have to offer for the children of Hagerstown and the surrounding area.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Any help is greatly appreciated, and I look
forward to hearing back from you!

Sincerely,

Logan Buzick
 Grant Proposal and Budget |2

The American Institute for Conservation

Logan Buzick
English 459
North Dakota State University
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Needs Assessment

Discovery Station provides many hands-on activities for children and families to engage

in. One of the exhibits featured at the station is the STEM Machine Art Room. STEM is a new

educational approach that integrates STEM lessons with ART. In this exhibit, children can make

crafts to take home from recycled materials in the craft space. The walls are made of chalkboard

and whiteboard, which allows children to write and paint on the walls. There is even an adult

coloring space for parents! Another fun exhibit that can be found at the station is Hagerstown

Aviation. This exhibit houses a collection of artifacts, memorabilia, and display depicting the

aviation heritage of the Hagerstown area (Discovery Station, 2019).

At the Discover Station our goal is to “create an environment that stimulates curiosity for

discovery, exploration, and further investigation through exhibits and programs that focus on

Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEM) principles” (Discovery Station, 2019)

Discovery Station offers a hands-on approach to learning the rich history of America, which

brings with its financial downfalls. The issues such as Conservation, expansion, and lack of

funding for supplies is a reoccurring issue at the Station.

All the exhibits within the museum were built using donations from the public and

sponsors. The Discovery Station relies heavily on ticket sale and our donation fund (Discovery,

2019). Grant money would be used toward expanding our current exhibits with more artifacts

and activities, but our top priority is ensuring that everything we have at Discovery Station is

accurate and educational. As time goes on, the artifacts in our exhibits begin to wear out or get

damaged, so for this reason we will need to perform a complete assessment of all the artifacts to

determine what will need to be replaced, resupplied, or refinished.

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Program Goals and Objectives

Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc. is requesting a grant to better the functioning,

restoration of exhibits, and the learning environment of our museum. This would tremendously

help us to achieve our goal of being the premier children’s museum in the tri-state area, as well

as to “create an environment that stimulates curiosity for discovery, exploration, and further

investigation through exhibits and programs that focus on Science, Technology, Engineering,

Art, and Math (STEM) principles” (Discovery Station, 2019). Discovery Station provides

thousands of children and families with life-long learning experiences, and it is in our best

interest that we have our building, exhibits, furniture, technology, etc., assessed to ensure that we

are performing at our best.

The First goal is to establish the supplies and restoration needed for the Discovery

Station. In order to create a list of items that need to be assessed, you first need to find which

areas the Discovery Station needs the most reconstruction. In order to complete this goal, we will

first examine the hands-on STEM approach sections of our educational selection, focusing on the

arts section.

The second goal is to actively supply each student with the best possible STEM learning

ability they could achieve. This is done through the steady supply of goods needed to partake in

the STEM Art program. In order to complete this goal, the Discovery Station will need to

evaluate the attendance totals of the station.

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Methodology

As we dive into this project, there are three parts that will contribute to a successful

assessment: observing, ordering, and applying. Though this will take time, it is the most accurate

way of assessing our project.

The first phase is the observing phase. In this phase, the Discovery Station will observe

the exhibits, focusing on the STEM Art exhibit, for sins of deuteriation, lack of attention, or

broken items. Documentation will be substantial in this phase of our project, as inventory sheets

will be provided to volunteers to ensure documentation.

The second phase will be ordering the supplies. Due to the lack of workers and volunteers

at the Discovery station, ordering and distributing the product will be a challenge. Once we have

gathered the information on broken, or unsatisfied items, we will place an order that will satisfy

the needs of the Discovery Station, and more importantly the needs of the STEM students.

The final instrumental part of our project at the discovery station is applying these

products to the public. At the end of the day, the goal at the Discovery Station is to inform the

STEM students and allow them to receive the education they deserve. “At the Discover Station

our goal is to “create an environment that stimulates curiosity for discovery, exploration, and

further investigation through exhibits and programs that focus on Science, Technology,

Engineering, Art, and Math (STEM) principles” (Discovery Station, 2019).

Evaluation

There are many ways that we can evaluate whether our project is effectively achieving

our proposed goals. Running tests on equipment and technology will be a beneficial evaluation

for some of the exhibits to ensure everything is functioning properly. For other exhibits we will
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send out newsletters and questionnaires to all the people who like to enjoy Discovery Station, to

see what their opinions are on anything that has been fixed. These questionnaires would help us

put a more personal touch on the museum for the public’s wants and needs, so that we can

ultimately offer them the best experience during their visit to Discovery Station.

Project Budget/Funding Requirements

Areas of Need Costs of Items Number of Items Total Price

Needed

Discovery Town $5-$10 50-70 $700

Lego Robotics $150 10 $1500

Dinosaurs $100 15 $1500

Music of the Civil $10-20 15 $150-$200

War
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Qualifications

Each year Discovery Station hosts two public events that are coming up, which are: Hangar fest

and an annual golf tournament. Our staff hosts these events, as well as guides field trips and

numerous tour groups. The museum occupies one building and is run by just over 50 staff

members. Discovery Station operates solely on charitable donations, and thousands of children

have benefited as a result of our growing success.

This is all made possible by a board of volunteer members, made up of, directors, interns,

volunteers, and even a professional museum photographer, who all serve without compensation.

However, the museum does staff one full-time employee and one part-time employee. Each

member serves a three-year term, and they come from multiple different locations throughout the

region. Discovery Station at Hagerstown, Inc. functions as a private, nonprofit organization,

incorporated in the state of Maryland on July 5, 1996, and is tax exempt under Section 501 (c)(3)

of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, as of March 11, 1997.

Conclusion

At the Discovery Station, our sole goal is to provide students with the best possibly

ability to learn. We offer this in many different facets, including Science, technology,

engineering, math, art, and history. Through this grant supplied by the American Institute of

Conservation, The Discovery Station would be able to maintain the ability to suppl the best

possible endowment for these students to better their education. We at the discovery Station

appreciate your time, and look forward to speaking with you soon.
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Works Cited

Amazon.com

“American Institute for Conservation & Foundation for Advancement in Conservation.”

American Institute for Conservation & Foundation for Advancement in Conservation,

https://www.culturalheritage.org/.

Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) Program,

https://www.culturalheritage.org/resources/collections-care/cap.

“What Will You Discover Today?” Discovery Station, https://discoverystation.org/.