There's a disconnect between what is being taught and why it needs to be learned. And according to Henri De Roule, there need to be more interactive hands-on labs where kids and adults can come in and play with stuff. Kids need to be able to come in, construct a bridge, see it collapse, and understand why. De Roule is the founder and CEO of the emerging Banning Science and Technology Center in Banning, California. The facility is a hands-on science museum in development expected to open by the end of 2013.
Working with a staff of just one, plus five volunteers and a board of five, De Roule is crunched for both time and resources as the museum project grows. Additionally he's frequently traveling to promote the center and demonstrate some of its future exhibits. He currently has about 70 mobile science exhibits, which he hopes are the seeds for a 50,000-square-foot facility he's working to open.
The process of fundraising, development, and launching necessitates some high-level bookkeeping for this burgeoning organization. De Roule, who has a background in nonprofits, was aware of TechSoup's assistance. He has received a donated copy of QuickBooks from Intuit, which he says will be able to grow with the organization's needs. As the organization develops, this software will be a central repository for all of their financial information.