EUREKA! McConnell Science Museum’s new location in Colorado Mesa University’s Confluence Hall opens the door to new opportunities for students of all ages.
While Eureka has the traditional offerings of interactive state-of-the-art exhibits, Education Director and Intern Coordinator Bree Hare wants students to know Eureka is more than an inexpensive way to learn about the sciences; they have a clean solution for that dreaded checkbox on DegreeWorks: internships.
“We have right now about 25 to 30 interns working during the school year, and we usually hire another 5 to 15 more heading into the summer,” Hare said.
Normally, Hare states, Eureka attracts students from the education and science fields, for the opportunities to work with children or on exhibits, respectively. The synergy between different fields of interns is a primary focus. Education interns and engineering interns work on lesson plans together, each giving each other perspective on fields they may not interact with otherwise.
“It’s really a unique meshing of our interns, and they come out of this experience learning a lot too,” Hare said.
In addition to science-based and education-based internships, Eureka hired their first batch of marketing interns for the Spring 2019 semester. Hare says marketing interns help print documents, manage the website and e-blast people, but her hope is for their role to expand further.
“One of the things I really want to see happen is the gap between CMU and us bridge a little bit, because some professors and some students aren’t aware of us yet,” Hare said.
Talking to Hare gives the impression that despite its newness, Eureka runs their internship operations like a well-oiled machine. Interns can join different or multiple committees within Eureka, such as the supply committee.
“[The supply committee] takes completed lesson plans, gather the supplies from our supply room, , order new supplies and get them all organized into a bin, so that when we teach the camps we just grab the bin and we’re ready to go,” Hare said, gesturing to a wall of plastic bins full of activities and lesson plans for upcoming camps.
Those who are brave of heart have a chance to join what Hare calls the “critter-handling” committee, which trains interns to take out and handle Eureka’s different critters, such as the bearded dragon or tarantula.
For those looking to fulfill their internship requirements while being conveniently located on campus, Eureka maybe the perfect fit for you. Hare and her team are accepting applications for summer internships throughout February, with interviews beginning in March. Those interested can stop by Eureka’s booth on February thirteenth in the University Center.
