Volunteers at the heart of museum success

To run an operation like the Great Valley Museum, it takes not only the paid staff but also local volunteers who help with the day-to-day running of the museum and these workers are known as docents.

Docents come from a variety of backgrounds and bring a wide array of skills to the job and without whom the museum would be unable to function.

Located on the Modesto Junior College’s West Campus, the Great Valley Museum is, according to its director, Arnold Chavez, “dedicated to providing science and natural history education to adults and children of all ages through classes, programs and exhibits.”

Docents volunteer their time and experience with gallery tours, feeding the animals and staffing booths that the museum has at off-campus events such as Modesto’s Fourth of July parade. Some docents are given the training required to run school group tours or the Science on a Sphere program, which is a major attraction at the museum.

Chavez describes some of the docent training: “Basic gallery docent program consists of three days (two to three hours each day) while those interested in providing school tours, animal shows or Science on a Sphere presentations will be required to attend an additional one to two days (two to three hours each day) of training.”

Ongoing training consists of two to three hours each semester, designed to help keep docents’ “knowledge base fresh and growing,” Chavez said.

Docents are asked to volunteer three hours per month, which translates into one gallery shift. As far as teaching experience goes, while it would be helpful, especially in the sciences and natural history, the museum’s training provides the basics one needs.

Chavez also said that the “volunteer program is great for anyone but seems to work well for retirees, students, teachers, or anyone who enjoys the reward of being part of something very unique to our community.”

One recent example of docent off-campus work was the working of a table at the Raley’s on Tully and Standiford for National Night Out. Providing information on the museum garnered little attention as long lines formed for face painting; however, once the sun went down, the museum’s mobile planetarium was brought out. A big fan went to work inflating the planetarium and the kids were lining up to enter and see the stars. A large, gray balloon-like structure, the mobile planetarium allows kids and adults to see many different types of stars and the formations they assume in the night sky via a projector that lights the ceiling of the planetarium. The mobile planetarium is one of the many items the museum has to take to local schools and groups interested in learning about the natural sciences along with the museum’s Traveling Teachers program.

For those interested in becoming a docent at the Great Valley Museum, training is held twice a year and the next session is scheduled for Oct. 3, 7 and 10. You can get more information from visiting the museum’s website at www.mjc.edu/gvm or by calling ‪209-575-6196.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Volunteers at the heart of museum success."