"but we finally had one tour this morning of 7th graders who refused to sit on the floor. "
Seriously? If some of them don't want to sit on the floor, tell them to stand at the back. And to put their phones away. Perhaps they are too out of shape to get back up? A little exercise might do them good.
Sorry to rant, but the time and effort to set up/put away chairs is both a drain on staff and a distraction to other visitors. If a tour wants a sit down presentation, do it in a theater space or a classroom already set up. If such a space does not exist, maybe charge a set up fee?
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David Beard
Director
Museum of the Gulf Coast
Port Arthur TX
Original Message:
Sent: 12-17-2015 03:17 PM
From: Charles Hersh
Subject: Portable Seating for Students
Hi all,
We have a tour for school groups that includes a live performance by a costumed reenactor, in addition to going through the galleries with a docent. The tour is geared towards 5th-8th grades, but we occasionally have younger and older students. The performance space is a small area near the entrance to the galleries, just a plain flat floor near some windows, without a stage or any other kind of raised platform. Until now, we've asked students (up to 30 per performance) to just sit on floor in front of the actress, but docents have complained that we need to have some kind of designated seating for the kids. For the most part, kids have been okay sitting on the floor, but we finally had one tour this morning of 7th graders who refused to sit on the floor.
Does anyone else do a similar program that requires kids to sit on the floor or in a similar non-theater space? What do you do for seating? These are the ideas we've had so far:
- a large comfy rug, like shag or similar
- rows of regular chairs, though this idea was rejected for being too complicated to set up, and for creating possible vision problems for kids towards the back
- small folding stools (like this), that kids could grab when entering the space, the only issue with this is how to store them when not in use
Does anyone have any experience with any of these, or have another idea?
Thank you so much!
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Charles Hersh
Education Assistant
National Museum of American Jewish History
Philadelphia, PA
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