Women at Work Museum's 5th Anniversary Celebration

On Sunday, October 5th, the Museum celebrated its 5th anniversary.  The Attleboro Area Chapter of the American Association of University Women hosted the event which featured the unveiling of our Honor Wall, a listing of our donors since our opening. “The individuals and companies who have supported us over the last five years, literally took a leap of faith when the founders of the Museum asked for help in getting the Museum up and running,” said Kelly Fox, Museum Treasurer and Board Member, “One way we can say  thank you  is by including all of those donors on this wall so that all of our visitors going forward will know who helped us and how much we appreciate that help.” The Attleboro Area Chapter of the American Association of University Women hosted the event.   

Since its opening, the Museum has created events on science and technology that have given students and adults opportunities to do some hands-on exploring, such as the Meet the Robots and Black Holes and Exploding Stars events.  High school girls met women from various backgrounds at the Career Exploration Day and had an opportunity to talk to these professionals about what they do.  The Envision Engineering program introduced over 50 middle school and high school girls to various types of engineering careers when six women engineers talked about their jobs, which are as varied as building sonar, designing medical devices, a college professor in electrical engineering, designing computer software, designing toys and creating functional items, such as coat hangers.   Most recently, the 3rd annual Clara Barton tea was held with a special one-woman performance about Abby Kelley Foster, a vocal abolitionist from the Worcester, MA area.

The mission of the Museum encompasses exploration, education and encouraging independence by also hosting occasional financial education classes.  30 of these classes have already been held for adults.  In the fall of 2008, the Museum  began partnering with Nations Heritage Federal Credit Union, who sent specially trained instructors to teach students the basics of monetary concepts, including how to open a savings account, the origin of money, and basic budgeting skills.  The Museum’s founders believe that education around financial concepts is especially critical for young girls so that as they grow into careers that are at higher pay scales, they will understand early on the importance of saving and investing and have the tools to start to make good financial decisions for themselves.

2008-5.jpgSpecial guest speaker was Vicki Donlan, author of Her Turn: Why It’s Time for Women to Lead in America. Her talk covered the challenges, opportunities, prospects, and emerging roles for female leaders in a wide spectrum of fields including business, politics, education, law and non-profits.  Ms. Donlan is also the founder and former publisher of Women’s Business and is a regular guest on New England Cable News. For more information about Vicki Donlan, click here.

The event was free and open to the public.