At museum for kids, a new focus on parents

“Parents are half our audience and what business wouldn’t want to be sure that half their audience was excited about their experience,’’ said Gordon, the new chief executive officer. “I can count on the kids saying ‘I want to go back to the Discovery Museums.’ The goal is to get the parents to say it too.’’

In his previous job, as the chief operating officer of the Boston Children’s Museum, the 55-year-old Wayland resident oversaw its recent $50 million expansion and renovation, as well as day-to-day management.

He was also involved with getting its staff trained to better engage parents. It’s a tack he plans to take in Acton, both at the Children’s Discovery Museum, which serves children under 6, and the Science Discovery Museum, for ages 6 and up.

“An enormous challenge facing this country is what people call the STEM crisis - in science, technology, engineering, and math - and there are solid economic arguments for why this kind of education is important, because we need more kids to go into those fields,’’ said Gordon.

“On the other hand, most kids will not grow up to be scientists,’’ he continued. “But the kind of learning they get at hands-on museums like ours - exploration, asking questions, making hypotheses, and trying to understand how and why things work - is a useful set of skills no matter what field you’re in.’’

So, just as literacy campaigns have encouraged parents to read to, and in front of, their children, Gordon aims to give parents the tools to explore and use scientific thinking with them.

“We want to help parents have more fun when they are here and get them more engaged to support them in their role as their kid’s first teacher,’’ he explained. “There’s a lot of info out there that explains how things work. But what we really want to help parents get more comfortable with is scratching their heads with their kids and wondering not just how but why things happen, and then to feel comfortable trying things together to try and figure it out.’’

To this end, Gordon and his staff are studying all the ways that the museums interact with parents, from their first glance at the website through their visit and their return home.

“We want to develop a curriculum for the parents . . . that goes across that thread of the entire experience, because the number one factor in educational success is the support of the parents for the child,’’ said Gordon. “Our mission is for kids to be more successful in the world, so it is very important for us to include parents in our approach.’’

Gordon’s other long-term goals for the museums, which were founded in 1982, include expanding offerings for preschoolers and younger children. Currently, the Children’s Discovery Museum is so popular it often has a waiting list.

“Research has shown that the habits of the mind are formed at an early age. Two-, three-, and four-year-olds are already developing the basis for science skills,’’ said Gordon. “We could do even better at helping folks understand how much kids are learning at really young ages.’’

He also hopes to continue plans to expand outdoor programming on the 4.5-acre campus, which abuts 180 acres of town conservation land. These could include a large tree-house where life sciences programming would be held.

“One of the challenges facing kids today is a disconnect with the natural outdoors. Many kids just don’t get to experience the hands-on, outdoor, tinkering kind of activities I got to do as a kid,’’ said Gordon, who is a father of four. “So we are working on some plans on how to offer that. There are some wonderful opportunities for that.’’

Finally, he is determined to find funding to expand the museums’ Traveling Science Workshop program, which takes interactive exhibitions to area schools. The program has grown by 12.5 percent annually for the last 5 five years, he said, and last year engaged more than 25,000 students.

“What’s wonderful about the Traveling Science Workshop is that we’re not coming into the classroom to teach science, we’re coming into the classroom to do science,’’ said Gordon. “It’s also for first through fifth grade, which is an area in a lot of schools now where science teachers are a diminishing factor. So at a lot of the schools, we are a significant portion of the science that the kids have access to.’’

The workshop, which Gordon calls a “museum in a box,’’ is often funded by parent-teacher groups, and he is aiming to find financial support for visits to communities that have less access to outside resources. “Those are the kids who really need enrichment,’’ he said.

As at other area institutions, donations to the Discovery Museums, whether corporate or from individuals, are down, and as a result some budget cuts were made before Gordon’s arrival in September. However, he said, the institution’s overall financial health is sound.

Admissions and membership are steady, though the museums have seen an increase in the use of discounted admissions and free library passes.

“We’re solvent, and we’re current on everything, so we’re healthy,’’ said Gordon.

“So for now, our goal is to be ready when the country comes out of the recession with programs that the community will want to support.’’

The Discovery Museums’ board of directors expressed confidence that Gordon is the right person for the job. On top of his 14-year tenure at the Boston Children’s Museum, he is president of an international industry group, the Association of Children’s Museums, and is a former treasurer of the New England Museum Association, as well as a former budget director for the City of Boston.

“Neil’s knowledge of the museum industry, compassion for the educational needs of children and families, fiscal management background and years of living in the region made him the perfect choice,’’ said the board’s chairwoman, Lees Stuntz.

For Gordon, the position brings him back full circle to a science setting. His first degree was a bachelor’s in geology. He also holds a master’s degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

“I didn’t start out thinking I’d be a museum person, and in some ways maybe I’m still not,’’ said Gordon. “I was into environmental and socioeconomic issues. But what drew me to children’s museums was a belief in informal education, which is what goes on in a museum setting, as a way to inspire kids to be more creative and more curious about the world.’’