The Hastings Museum and the Hastings Community Foundation have worked together since 2002 to provide a quality educational experience for the children of migrant workers in South Central Nebraska. Through Head Start’s summer school program, students take part in classroom activities and focus on reading and math. The funding from the Community Foundation makes it possible for these kids to visit the J.M. McDonald Planetarium, experience a film in the Super Screen Theatre, and view all of the museum’s exhibits as part of their 6-week program.

As the numbers of migrant workers began to decrease in recent years, the program evolved to include all summer school students in Adams County, along with the young men at the Hastings Regional Center. Over the past 15 years we have presented this program to 2,425 migrant children and 1,608 local students for a total of 4,033 kids!

Many have said that their visit to the Hastings Museum was the highlight of their summer!
– Rebecca Matticks, Director, Hastings Museum