Chicago Hands-On Educators was first created in 1992 by Mary Ann Bloom of The Field Museum and Suzanne Halstead of Chicago Children's Museum as they were sharing ideas on how to facilitate groups overnight in museums. While brainstorming, they realized there was a need to form a network for educators to meet at different institutions to discuss school visits and family programs as well as to visit traveling exhibitions. The meetings were informal and the goal was to share resources, visit new exhibits, and socialize with colleagues. Thus, the organization Hands-On Educators was born. 

 

Hands-On Educators' original members were Mary Ann Bloom, Suzanne Halstead, Mary Felt, Carole Krucoff, and April Whitt. During its first few years, a dozen or so educators attended monthly meetings. As the group grew in size, members saw the need for a formal committee to organize the CHOE network. In 1994, Stephanie Weaver, formally of the Chicago Botanic Garden, graciously accepted the responsibility of chief coordinator. In the spring of 1997, Stephanie moved to California to work at the San Diego Zoo and Julyne Segar succeeded her as director. In 1998, members presented a poster session at the Midwest Museums Conference in Madison, Wisconsin. Throughout the next years, membership increased and a whopping twenty-five organizations joined the network. 

 

The new millenium not only brought about new members but also a change of name and logo. Hands-On Educators became Chicago Hands-On Educators, or CHOE. In 2010 and 2011, CHOE collaborated with the local Museum Educators Roundtable (MER) to provide in-depth, fee-based workshops regarding the topic of museums, schools, and education reform. Also in 2011, CHOE presented a poster session at the Association of Midwest Museums (AMM) " Museumpalooza", a joint conference with the Visitors Studies Association (VSA) and the Illinois Association of Museums (IAM) in Chicago. As of today, current membership includes over thirty-five organizations and independent museum consultants but we are always looking for more! If your organization is interested in planning a professional development workshop or event, please contact our director, Julyne Segar, at choechicago@gmail.com.