A Day in the Life: Director of Education and Public Outreach

Continuing our series looking at a day in life of staff members at the Naval War College Museum, this week we learn about the role of the Director of Education and Public Outreach.

At the Naval War College Museum, the Director of Education and Public Outreach gets to interact with a lot of different organizations and individuals. Online content, group programming, games, and more all flow together under the responsibilities of the museum's current Director of Education and Public Outreach, Blake Ruehrwein.

Blake Ruehrwein, Director of Education and Public Outreach
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As is true for all departments at the Naval War College Museum, the Education department is a department of one staff member. That means Blake's work covers a lot of diverse projects, which also means he gets to employ a lot of creativity in his work too. The Director of Education designs museum programming, which can be targeted toward the general public or specific institutions or demographics. As manager of the tour program at the Naval War College Museum, Blake oversees an exciting variety of ways tours can be offered. Group tours offer a guided experience of the museum in the hands of one of our amazing docents. The docents are the go-to ambassadors for the museum when VIPs stop by or high-profile events are underway. If a more self-paced adventure appeals to you, the Director of  Education also manages and updates an audio tour using your own cell phone as you walk through the museum. 

Docent giving a guided tour
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Keeping pace with the latest technologies, the museum, via the Director of Education, is in the process of creating a virtual 3D tour using the type of 3D camera more commonly associated with virtual real estate tours. The virtual museum tour provides the highest quality access to exhibitions and content to anyone around the world with an internet connection who may not be able to make it to the museum in person. Anticipate this feature becoming available to the public later this year!

The Director of Education is also the liaison between the museum, the public, and partner institutions. Community partners have regularly hosted a series of lectures that are open to the public. The navy base's annual Salute to Summer party invites the community to enjoy music, food, and other activities on base in collaboration with the museum and navy organizations. Commands on Naval Station Newport take advantage of these museum partnerships too. Last year, the Curator, Museum Director, and Director of Education worked together to establish a wargaming program for junior officers at the Officer Candidate School.

A natural partnership is the joint activities of the Director of Education with the faculty at the Naval War College. Faculty might ask for historical content as teaching aides in the classroom, or many opt to hold class in the museum surrounded by a wealth of artifacts and exhibitions. Many groups on base and off base are excited to have their professional and social events in the museum. The Director of Education organizes retirement, promotion, graduation, and reunion ceremonies, as well as networking, socials, and other fun times!

Naval War College professors enjoy holding class in the museum
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A visit to the museum could provide family programming like our exhibition-based scavenger hunts, while those with an interest in technical work can catch one of our conservators cleaning and repairing ship models in the galleries. In addition to our tour guides, these conservators are often a part of the volunteer program, which is managed by the Director of Education. Under this scope, Blake schedules tour guides, develops internships, and designs volunteer appreciation initiatives. 

One major way the Director of Education engages the public is through social media. Whether it's a trivia question on Facebook, announcement of a new exhibition on Twitter, or recordings of presentations on YouTube, the Naval War College Museum is constantly curating and creating content for online audiences. 

A sneak peak of the museum's upcoming virtual tour
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Education has been a critical component of museum mission statements for a long time. Through in-person or online programming, tours, or events, you can count on the Education department at the Naval War College Museum continuing to serve both the military community and the public. 

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