Volunteer Team Member Spotlight: Jessica Funkhouser August 14, 2024 Sharing the joy of music with children Jessica Funkhouser recently celebrated 10 years as a MIM museum guide. She joined as a volunteer team member in 2013 and started leading museum tours the next spring. Today, the former attorney leads field trips for groups of young learners in MIM’s Geographic Galleries and mentors museum guides in training. Volunteer Team Member Jessica Funkhouser “Very few of MIM’s museum guides started out as music teachers, and here we are teaching musical culture,” she says. “It’s new to just about everybody at the start. I see that as my job as a mentor, to help new museum guides gain confidence by doing.” When she’s leading field trips, Jessica engages students by introducing new information in the form of questions. “Asking questions with no wrong answer gets the kids talking,” she says. “You can see how the dynamics change depending on the class, age, and where the students are from. You don’t know what you’re going to get, but I find that part of the fun.” Jessica’s grandchildren also enjoy attending MIM through her Family Circle membership and exploring the exhibits. Four of her five grandkids—ages 9, 7, 5, and 3—attend MIMkids programs. The youngest—who is just a few months old—is a future Mini Music Maker. “I like kids,” Jessica says. “Once they find out they’re supposed to be having fun here, then beautiful things happen.” BECOME A VOLUNTEER
