From the Brazilian Rainforest to the Connecticut Shore

During mid-April, many students are excited to travel to the beach for spring break. This year, a group of Brazilian students will be doing likewise, but with one major difference. Instead of spending time boating, fishing and swimming in the Amazon River that connects their small village to other areas of Brazil, they will be heading to the United States to study the Connecticut shoreline as part of an exciting museum exchange program with Norwalk-based Stepping Stones Museum for Children, the international cultural education organization Creative Connections, and the Maritime Aquarium.

The students are participants in a year-long Museums ConnectSM grant program called “Lifelines/Aspectos Vitais: The Convergence of Arts, Ecology and Culture in the Amazon and New England.” Museums ConnectSM, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State that is administered by the American Alliance of Museums. Since the beginning of the school year, a team of Connecticut and Brazilian students, teachers and other project partners have been immersed in an international exploration of watersheds as ecological, cultural and economic lifelines. In November, a group of students from a Bridgeport high school traveled to Brazil to study the Amazon River and its rainforest. Later this month, the Brazilian students will be making their reciprocal visit to Connecticut to study the Long Island Sound watershed.

Stepping Stones will kick off the two-week visit by hosting an official Welcoming Ceremony and Reception at the museum on April 20thfrom 10:30 am to noon. The lively event will feature public officials, Stepping Stones’ leaders, participating students and representatives from The Biotech School at the Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict Magnet School in Bridgeport and the Bridgeport Board of Education. In addition to opening remarks, William E. Jeffries, III, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Stepping Stones, and his Brazilian counterpart Socorro Andrade, Field Manager at Ferreira Penna Scientific Station, will outline the goals and progress of the grant project. The Brazilian delegation will be presented with gifts and the Brazilian children will share a piece of their culture by performing a ceremonial dance.

“Stepping Stones Museum for Children was honored to receive this highly prestigious Museums Connect grant,” said Jeffries. “Increasing children’s understanding of the world is an important part of the museum’s mission and this ‘Lifelines/Aspectos Vitais’ project is providing an incredible and powerful learning opportunity for those selected to participate to do just that.”

During the duration of their time in the U.S., the eight students and three teachers from the San Sebastian Community School and five representatives from the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, will take part in workshops at Fairchild Wheeler, study the Long Island Sound ecosystem while on The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk’s research vessel, visit many Connecticut attractions, and engage with members of the local Brazilian community.

The Brazilian students’ trip to America will culminate with a special Multicultural Night at Fairchild Wheeler on April 28th from 6 to 8 pm. The Brazilians will spend their remaining time enjoying the New York City area, including a visit the United Nations, before returning home on May 2nd.

In November, eight students from Fairchild Wheeler participated in a once-in-a lifetime, learning experience in the Brazilian rainforest. They traveled 20 hours by boat up the Amazon River basin to the Ferreira Penna Scientific Station for their two-week scientific and cultural exchange. As they collaborated with local students from San Sebastian Community School in Pará to study the Amazon River watershed, they documented their amazing experiences on a blog.

After their fall trip to Brazil, the Fairchild Wheeler and San Sebastian students have remained in touch and developed a tight bond through a series of video conferences and artwork exchanges. The Bridgeport students shared their new knowledge with their local community during a public presentation to the city’s Board of Education.

This two-week visit is the last major activity of the Museums Connect project. After the visit concludes, both sets of students will be charged with developing sustainable, community plans to determine how they can transmit their learning to the younger children in their respective communities. Stepping Stones will maintain strong relationships with Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi in Brazil and with the local Brazilian community here in Connecticut.

Two Norwalk-based community organizations have been supporting Stepping Stones on the American side of the project: Creative Connections and The Maritime Aquarium. Creative Connections is an international non-profit that connects students in the USA with their international peers through the exchange of art and ideas.

“The opportunity for students around the world to participate in educational programming that inspires global understanding is unique and increasingly important,” said Alan Steckler, President and Founder of Creative Connections.

“Through our international and local contacts, Creative Connections brought Stepping Stones, Goeldi Museum, and Fairchild Wheeler together to run ArtLink, our peer-to-peer global arts exchange and live videoconferencing program, between the students in Bridgeport and Brazil. We are honored to be a part of the incredible partnership made possible by the Museums Connect grant,” said Steckler.

The Maritime Aquarium features more than 3,000 marine animals living in re-creations of their natural habitats and also offers educational programs, study cruises, special exhibits and Connecticut’s largest IMAX® Theater.

Tom Naiman, director of Education at The Maritime Aquarium, said his staff is thrilled to offer its expertise in environmental education to the project.

"What an exciting opportunity it will be to have students from Connecticut and the Amazon Basin together on our research vessel, collecting and comparing data, talking about our mutual dependence on Earth's natural resources and the need to protect them," Naiman said.

The international partnership, “Lifelines/Aspectos Vitais: The Convergence of Arts, Ecology and Culture in the Amazon and New England,” is being funded by the Museums ConnectSM program. The grant program is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the American Alliance of Museums. The program pairs museums and local communities in the United States and abroad for cross-cultural exchanges that bring people, especially youth, together. Participants conduct community projects that address timely social issues, such as women and girls’ empowerment, environmental sustainability, and expanding access to quality education. Now in its ninth and final year, Museums ConnectSM has linked American museums in 30 states and the District of Columbia with partners abroad in 51 countries.

Stepping Stones is one of only six American museums, and the only children’s museum, to be awarded a grant during this cycle.

The Welcome Ceremony and Reception will be a bilingual event presented both in Brazilian Portuguese and English.

About Stepping Stones Museum for Children

Stepping Stones Museum for Children is an award-winning, private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) children’s museum committed to broadening and enriching the lives of children and families. For more information about Stepping Stones, to book a field trip or schedule a class, workshop or facility rental call 203-899-0606 or visit www.steppingstonesmuseum.org.

Stepping Stones Museum for Children is located at 303 West Avenue, Norwalk, CT, exit 14 North and 15 South off I-95. Museum hours are: Memorial Day through Labor Day, Monday-Sunday from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; Labor Day through Memorial Day, Tuesday-Sundayand holiday Mondays from 10:00 am – 5:00 pm. Admission is $15 for adults and children and $10 for seniors. Children under 1 are free. Get social with Stepping Stones on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi

The Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi is one of the largest and most popular museums in Brazil. Founded in 1866, the Goeldi Museum is a Zoo, Botanical Park and Research Center located in Belém, a city in the northern Brazilian state of Pará. The oldest public aquarium in Brazil is one of the attractions of the Park. The Goeldi Museum’s research station is located at this location in the Caxiuanã National Forest. The museum itself is located in Belém, a major city in the north of Brazil.

About Creative Connections

Creative Connections, an international non-profit, connects students in the USA with their international peers through the exchange of art and ideas. Their mission is to help students become global citizens who are prepared to learn, live, work and thrive in the 21st Century. For more information on Creative Connections, visit www.creativeconnections.org. or follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit institution whose mission is to inspire people of all ages to appreciate and protect the Long Island Sound ecosystem and the global environment through living exhibits, marine science and environmental education. TripAdvisor users rank The Maritime Aquarium as the No. 1 aquarium in New England. Learn more atwww.maritimeaquarium.org.

About the American Alliance of Museums

The American Alliance of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. Representing more than 30,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field, the Alliance stands for the broad scope of the museum community. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

About the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) promotes international mutual understanding through a wide range of academic, cultural, private-sector, professional and sports exchange programs. The Bureau’s exchanges engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes and emerging leaders in many fields in the United States and in more than 160 countries. Alumni of ECA exchanges comprise over one million people around the world, including more than 50 Nobel Laureates and more than 320 current or former heads of state and government. For more information, visit http://exchanges.state.gov/.