About

Beyond the Chalkboard is the work of a host of staff from Boston Children’s Museum, with additional contributions from educators from a number of organizations, as well as invaluable input from teachers in afterschools across Boston and Massachusetts.

The lead author and designer of Beyond the Chalkboard is Tim Porter. Additional contributions to activity content were made by Museum staff Judy Battat, Cora Carey, Akemi Chayama, Christine Coche, Megan Dickerson, Loren Stolow, Kate Szumita, and Alice Vogler.

Additional content was provided by TERC, Brook Abdu, Ruby Bell-Gam, Tete Cobblah, David Uru Iyam, Genita Johnson, and George Walters-Sleyon.

Consultation on curriculum content was provided by Barbara B. Brown, PhD. (Boston University), Mary Dussault (Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory), Saki Iwamoto, and Virginia Zanger (Boston Children’s Museum).

Earth and Space science activities were developed with the support of NASA. This material is based upon work supported by NASA under grant award number NNX14AQ83G. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

KIDS Afterschool activities were all piloted at afterschool programs with real educators and real kids, so you know that they work and you know that they are fun. This curriculum would not have been possible without the contributions from these after school programs:

• Boston YMCA
• Brighton After School Enrichment program (BASE)
• Charlestown Boys and Girls Club
• The Cooper Center
• Curtis Guild School Afterschool
• Dudley Street Neighborhood Charter School
• Ellis Memorial School Age Program
• Hawthorne Youth and Community Center
• The King 2-5 After-School, Cambridge
• Martin Luther King Jr. School Afterschool
• Mason School Afterschool
• Michael Driscoll School Afterschool
• Neighborhood House Charter School After School
• The Peabody 2-5 After-School Program, Cambridge
• Prospect Hill Academy Charter School Afterschool Program
• Red Oak Afterschool Program
• Roger Clapp Afterschool Program
• Somerville YMCA
• South Boston Boys and Girls Club
• South Boston Neighborhood House
• Union #38 Out-of-School Time Programs
• United Way of Pioneer Valley Afterschools
• YMCA Dorchester
• YMCA/Egleston Youth Center

Special thanks also to Bernie Zubrowski, Diane Willow and Dottie Merrill, whose pioneering work at Boston Children’s Museum with after schools from the 1970’s-1990’s serves as the cornerstone of many of the Beyond the Chalkboard activities. Thanks also to current and former Museum staff members Juli Brownrigg, Lou Casagrande, Carole Charnow, Alissa Daniels, Alexander Goldowsky, Neil Gordon, Kate Marciniec, Bridget Matros, JB Sapienza, Susan Steinway, Natalie Zylicz, and everyone else at Boston Children’s Museum for their support of this project, and to Ellen Gannett and her team at NIOST for their guidance.