The Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village was awarded $376,000 in Congressionally Directed Funding thanks to United States Senator Patrick Leahy in the federal spending bill signed by United States President Joe Biden on March 16. These funds will allow the museum to hire additional educational staff to offer in-school and afterschool programs year round as part of its new “Home of Choices Studies” program.
“These funds are truly a game changer for us, at a time when we have already been growing as an institution,” Molly Veysey, museum executive director, said. “We can finally begin offering schools throughout the Northeast Kingdom and Northern Vermont unique opportunities to learn their own community’s history through a hands-on, engaging program that will take place both at school and on our beautiful campus.”
The “Home of Choice Studies” program derives its name from African American Alexander Lucius Twilight who declared the village of Brownington to be “the home of my choice.” The funds will be used to support existing on-site educational programs at the museum while also enabling the hiring of an in-school education director. The person in this new position will develop a menu of workshops offered to schools and manage a staff of Americorps members who will deliver programming in afterschool and in-school enrichment formats.
Funds will also support archival and collections work aimed at developing curricula for the “Home of Choice Studies” program. The curricula will offer a menu of learning opportunities from which teachers, administrators and families can choose.
“First and foremost, we thank Senator Leahy’s team and Senator Leahy himself, along with United States taxpayers,” Veysey added. “We also thank all those who helped us submit a successful application, including the community, nonprofit, business and individual partners who wrote letters of support.”