NEW CROP OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BECOME
EXPLORATORIUM EXPLAINERS
Whether high school drop out or ace science student, youngsters learn by teaching
New Explainers Begin June 6, 2009

In 1969, San Francisco’s Exploratorium opened with a handful of exhibits and one teenage Explainer. Today, there are over 700 exhibits and more than 30 Explainers at any one time.

Currently, the Exploratorium hires approximately 100 students a year between the ages of 16-19 to work as informal guides within the museum. Called Explainers, these teenagers are the museum’s main connection with the visiting public. They do not lead tours: they are stationed throughout the museum to explain and demonstrate exhibits in a variety of ways.

The Explainers role is dual: to learn while teaching, and to teach while learning. On the museum floor, the Explainers encourage museum visitors to take a playful, experimental approach to the museum. They help visitors use the exhibits, and share their expertise and ideas. The Explainers also conduct short demonstrations—including a laser demonstration and a cow’s eye dissection—and even facilitate musical improvisation on the museum floor using xylophones and marimbas made of different materials.

The students in the Explainer Program come from diverse backgrounds and have a wide variety of interests. They are recruited mostly from Bay Area schools — sometimes beyond — as well as from community organizations that search for new opportunities for youth. For some of the students, this is their first exposure to learning science. They receive 150 hours of training, concurrent to working with the general public. They are hired for a four-month period. At the end of this time, their work is evaluated and they can be rehired to work an additional four months.

It’s a program now emulated at other museums around the country. It’s a program credited with changing some teen’s lives. Whether high school drop out or ace science student at age 17, over 3500+ Explainers credit the Exploratorium and their experiences here with a profound and long lasting impact on their attitudes towards, science, art, learning and life.