Testimonials 
 

Cool Culture has received tremendous grassroots support from families and staff at participating Head Start and Fully-Funded Day Care programs. Here are a few comments from participants about what Cool Culture has meant to them:

" I'm just so glad I joined Cool Culture because it opened up a door of opportunities. I came back to my Head Start center and I explained to all the parents what I got out of it, and so many people were excited. ... I learned a lot myself, because there were a lot of places, living in New York, I had never visited."

- Linda, Head Start Parent

" I took my girls to the Guggenheim Museum. My girls love it. They go around, they see the different paintings, they see the sculptures. The arts help children to learn about things in general. It's not just art. It exposes them to life in general. It helps them to read better and it helps them to understand the world better. It's something that is just great."

- Wanda, Head Start Parent

" I had a parent whose child just started day care a couple of days ago and she said to me, you know, the problem that I'm having is, on weekends, what do you do? She says, I'm so afraid to go into the museums. I don't know where to begin to start, in terms of where do you take [the children]? You go in and you don't have a tour guide, how do you get around?"

- Vanessa, Day Care Parent and Staff Member

"One of the benefits of this program is how it teaches you how to construct your visit. That's what I do with the parents after I get the information here. We have meetings and we sit down and plan exactly what we're going to do. I don't just give them the passes and say "Go." We sit down and plan it. The more they know before they get there, the more relaxed they will be."

- Patrick, Day Care Parent

"The beauty of Cool Culture is that it directly engages the family. We all say the parents are the primary educators, and life-long educators, if there is truth to that, then the bottom line is we have to have avenues, and Cool Culture provides that forum, those avenues, so people do take advantage of that. … Spend some time with your children and participate in particular assignments your children have in school, or just broaden your horizon. You learn from an exhibit, take your children there, demystify the whole concept of what the museum or cultural institution is."

- Pedro, Head Start Director

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