Echo Leahy Center for Lake

The public face of the Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Inc. (dba Echo, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain or Echo) is an innovative science and nature museum located on the burlington waterfront. Open daily, Echo encourages visitors to view the natural environment as part of their neighborhood and to explore, learn about, and consider opportunities for stewardship. Since 1995, we have taught more than 3 million visitors about the role of science in our culture and lives. Echo leverages its unique setting to inspire and engage families in the joy of scientific discovery, wonder of nature, and care of Lake Champlain. Visitors explore over 100 interactive family experiences, 70 live species, seasonal changing exhibits, and our northfield savings bank immersive 3d theater. In our highly interactive science exhibits, awesome forces and engineer it, visitors of all ages tackle daily engineering challenges at our tinkering bench and test zones as well as delight in discovering the amazing processes that have shaped the Lake Champlain basin and our earth. To learn more visit: https://www.echovermont.org/ the nonprofit is governed by an 18-member board of directors, who retains responsibility for defining Echo's overall strategic direction, ensuring the institution remains on track and achieves its goals. The primary responsibilities of the Echo board fall in the areas of finance, fundraising, strategy, and policy. As a general matter, board members are not directly involved in Echo's daily operations, as these duties are the responsibility of management. Board members sit on one of four committees that meet multiple times annually: policy & governance, planning & finance, audit & ethics, investment, and stewardship. The entire board meets quarterly within the fiscal year. Principal programs & annual accomplishments: supported by meaningful partnerships and an informed understanding of audience need, Echo provides high-impact science-based learning experiences in and outside our walls. Public museum: 160,000 annual visitors including 75,000 children, 5,500 member households, 15,000 school children. Echo is dedicated to breaking down barriers so that all visitors can experience the museum. Animal care program: promoting environmental stewardship and ecology by connecting the public to more than 70 native species of fish, amphibians, and reptiles with twice daily animal care demos and back of house tours. Turtle headstart program: Echo partners with the Vermont fish & wildlife department to provide care for neonate spiny softshell and map turtles throughout the winter. The bigger turtles are released into Lake Champlain in the summer, giving them a better chance of survival. Echo early learning: eel is a free, academic year-long, caregiver-child program training caregivers and supporting healthy development and school readiness for early learners outside the formal care system. The program supports play-based learning for children and caregivers together, reading-readiness, and caregiver learning, as well as resources to foster safe, supportive, and enriching learning environments for children at home. Statewide stem outreach: we deliver hands-on stem programs and teacher professional development to rural, underserved early childhood classrooms, while creating a new career awareness curriculum and take-home, stem activity kits. Each year, Echo educators work with over 60 educators and 900 students. Teacher institute: teachers from around Vermont participate in an echo-led, year-long community of practice while working to integrate engineering design into their classroom curriculums. Traveling stem festivals: stem festivals travel in our stem in motion box truck and include enough activities and engineering challenges to fill a gym. E-team: our teen intern team members participate in weekly professional development, go on monthly career exploration field trips, and work in the engineer it program space four hours per week. College intern and volunteer program: annually, 75 undergraduate students gain career-relevant experience in animal care, science education, it, development, communications, and event management. Echo's open door program: a yearly community access program partnering with more than 70 social service agencies to provide 33,000+ free or significantly reduced admission recipients and 3,500 complimentary memberships - strives to make the science Center accessible for all. Created to break down financial, geographic, and cultural barriers specifically, Echo finds affordable and equitable ways to allow all members of our community to have access to our services and resources. Sensory-friendly sunday event series: Echo understands that many of our exhibits and public spaces can be overwhelming to those with sensory processing differences, especially when crowded. Understanding the unique barriers that families with autism spectrum disorder face in public spaces, Echo has created sensory-friendly events that open early for families with sensory processing differences, autism spectrum disorder or developmental disabilities to explore in a more calm and supportive environment. A crucial part of achieving this goal is offering free admission and ongoing training for our staff and volunteers. Masks on sundays event series: Echo is supporting members of our community that are immunocompromised. Monthly, Echo opens for families struggling to find a safe, friendly environment with their parents, siblings, and other children. This is a free and exclusive event, developed to serve families with a family member whose health has been compromised due to covid, by a medical condition, specialized surgical procedures, or medical treatments that otherwise prevent them from playing together in our facility. A crucial part of achieving this goal is offering free admission and ongoing training for our staff and volunteers.