I am part of a group of parents in the beginning stages of starting up a children's museum in South Bend. The museum will be composed of hands-on, educational activities, focused on science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM). Our museum will be accessible for all children in our community and surrounding areas, either through monthly sponsered free admission days or discounts for low income families.

Our plan is to start small, through traveling or "pop-up" exhibits to immediately make STEAM-based activities available to children in our community. Once we have enough funds raised, we will lease a small space so we can be open daily for families who want to participate in our activities and exhibits. We eventually plan to move into a large, permanent space which we will gradually fill and improve over years of hard work. Our motto is to dream big, but start small.

In July, we held a community meeting to organize support and get input from other families and stakeholders to hear what they would like to see in the museum. About 90 people attended, and we were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and number of people who were interested in joining our efforts. We are currently meeting with city officials and other potential partners, interviewing potential board members, and planning our pop-up exhibits.

For more information, visit our Facebook page @SBchildrensmuseum where you can follow our progress, watch the Facebook live stream of our meeting, read our Tribune article, and watch our ABC-57 and WSBT-22 news segments.