Wonderfeet Kids Museum Observation Report

The Wonderfeet Kids Museum is non-profit museum in downtown Rutland Vermont. This museum is very active in the local community through many summer programs and traveling to local classrooms to further help children understand the curriculum. To learn more about Wonderfeet I went to the museum Friday afternoon to sit down with Mayra Peefer, the executive director of the museum. During the interview I learned about what it takes to maintain a non profit and what factors can help or hurt a business. Wonderfeet is a 501C3 nonprofit children’s museum. A board of Directors oversee daily operations and serve two year terms.The board members are elected by committee members and can be re elected. The committee has positions such as president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. It is through committee members that Mayra Peefer, the current executive director, became involved with the museum. Mayra was friends with committee members who persuaded her to attend a meeting. Mayra had a background in informal education and previous museum experience. Mayra then began to volunteer with the museum was was soon voted into the board of directors.

The museum's growth is completely community driven and would not have a permanent location if not for the community. The museum started as an exhibit during a Friday Night

Instead I was surprised by how many local businesses the museum has partnered with. Some examples of local partnerships that the museum has are; Rutland Regional Medical Center, the Rutland Recreation Department, and Rutland Mental health. Through these partnerships the museum is involved in many programs such as Come Alive Outside, and Winterfest. Wonderfeet is also partnered with the Association of Children’s Museums which is a national program for children’s museums. Overall Wonderfeet is very involved in the community and has many partnerships that allow it to