Museum Staff Working from Home During COVID-19

Museum Staff Working from Home

Here at Imperial Valley Desert Museum, its Education staff have been hard at work to redefine what it means to be community leaders8 and educators in the time of social distancing and COVID-19.

IVDM closed its doors to the public on Friday, March 20. That same day, it transitioned all of its staff to a work-at-home environment. Their new mission? Find new ways to engage our audiences virtually and share the history, heritage, and science of our deserts from the safety of home. Just because its building is closed does not mean the same for the museum itself.

As the Education Coordinator I am grateful for what the museum and board is currently doing for us by allowing us the privilege of working from home. As this pandemic continues, a lot of people have lost their jobs, or are currently working jobs that put them in danger every single day; my utmost respect and appreciation goes to these essential workers.

Curriculum Development

One of the greatest challenges facing educators right now is the transition to an online classroom. Every day, these teachers are reinventing education in this country. They are hungry for new, trustworthy content to share with their students. The Education Staff and I are currently working to answer this need: developing new online virtual curriculum and revising current curriculum for the next season of field trips and education programs.

We are utilizing this time to create online content and lessons to provide support for teachers and students during this time. We are also making sure the existing education material reflects the most updated and current version of California State Standards.

How does the Education Staff feel about working from home?

The Education Staff shared some insight on what their experience working from home has been like:

Cory Fitzsimmons

Working from home has been a great experience overall. As a prospective teacher, I see that it's really valuable to be able to create online educational material.

                                      Luis Landeros

I have been learning so many new things either from doing research or writing outlines and scripts, which I never thought this was something I would get to do! It is such a different experience and working from home is what is needed in such hard times so it is what we will keep doing to help the museum keep moving forward!

                                        Charles Kirby

Of course, I would prefer being all together, but I feel everyone is just as committed to getting the work done. I also feel that my colleagues and supervisors are always available if needed and have been super willing to work with me if I have any issues or concerns.