When Anderson University Education major Mary “MK” Green applied for a summer internship at the Smithsonian Institution, she thought it might involve doing clerical work connected with classes they offer in their summer educational program. When she had her interview with the Smithsonian, the staff there were impressed enough with her background to offer much more.
This past summer Green worked as a summer camp instructor at the Greenville Zoo, teaching youngsters about some of the zoo’s exotic animals—turtles, snakes, scorpions, tarantulas, and her favorite, the Madagascar hissing cockroach.
“We would hold them and let the kids touch them and get to do mini presentations on them,” she said, adding that the Madagascar hissing cockroach was as big as the palm of her hand.
During her interview with the Smithsonian, Green talked about her educational background and previous camp experience.
Of the interview, Green commented, “It was going to mainly be just preparing the back end of office of the summer camp work, so we could be scheduling the different museum tickets and getting supplies together and more of the paperwork side of things, or she could hire me on as a seasonal instructor. Of course, I would rather be the instructor because I’m going to be a teacher. I told her I would love to do that and I ended up getting contract work, because it’s just for the summer, so I’m a summer camp instructor and I’ll work with a co-teacher.”
During the spring semester, Green began to prepare curriculum for the seven weeks she would be conducting weeklong camps with her co-teachers as a Smithsonian Associate. Smithsonian Associates is a program that partners with all of the different Smithsonian museums and offers camps in a wide variety of topics that include history, technology and nature.
“One camp is called Bugs and Botany. At all times there may be 10 to 15 different camps going on. They’re grouped by age ranges, so there’s kindergarten through first grade, second through third, third through fourth and then they all have their different topics and themes,” Green said, adding that she will teach classes at the different Smithsonian museums in the District of Columbia.
For Green, who grew up in Anderson, her program and professors who genuinely care have been the best part of her college experience.
“Doctor Richard Rosenberger has always been such an encouragement to me and such a big supporter, and then Dr. Tanya Cordoba who taught me about museum education and inquiry-based education—I would also credit her for this opportunity,” she said.
Dr. Rosenberger, who is an assistant professor in the Anderson University College of Education, observed that when Green would stand up before classes to make presentations, she had a unique ability to engage her classmates.
He said, “MK has an unnatural ability to make her teaching lessons come alive. Teaching classes at the Smithsonian Institution for Education is only going to enhance her gift with a diverse and a global audience.”