Purposeful Gaming Studio
The pandemic left dents on every person and business, and Whitaker Center was no exception.
Somewhat more delayed than others to fully reopen, the “crown jewel of Harrisburg” stayed in its jewelry box just a little longer. As it turns out, they were taking that time to be cleaned and polished.
We’re stoked that Whitaker Center has since swung their doors wide open to the public. With familiar mainstay offerings accompanying some exciting changes, Whitaker Center is showcasing a remodeled layout along with rejuvenated programming that’s enough to get your kids excited, even your sullen teens.
Picking Up STEAM
Where the ticketing center and the gift shop once stood is now PNC Innovation Zone, a Purposeful Gaming Studio. This new area (separate from Harrisburg University’s professional e-sports arena) provides a collaborative, experiential learning space to engage kids in STEAM through videogames.
Whitaker Center’s board and staff feel a responsibility to inspire kids and expose them to technology, providing access to those who don’t always have it. The gaming aspect of Whitaker Center is so cool that “people tend to forget we’re nonprofit,” said CEO Ted Black.
Innovation educator Steve Lockhart encourages parents to talk to their kids while they’re playing together “about possible future STEAM professions in videogames: coding, storytelling, 3-D modeling, designers, hardware, software, streamers, influencers, sound and music engineering—endless careers.” Kids in grades two through eight can learn STEAM concepts through structured class offerings.
And if you’d like to bond with your co-workers or friend groups through a videogame experience, Innovation Zone is a great hub for getting creative and building virtual bridges.
“We’re the first science center in the country with a space like this, and one of the first STEAM buildings that has everything intersecting all under one roof,” Black said.
Community Needs
During the pandemic, Whitaker Center’s doors weren’t bolted shut. Rather, they were propped open slightly ajar to meet needs within the community. In response to emergent virtual educational pivoting, Whitaker Center, along with help from Rep. Patty Kim and Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, hosted the Community Classroom within the Innovation Zone space.
Community Classroom provided a place for students (and overwhelmed parents) to log on with Wi-Fi to complete classwork and homework. Black credits this program as “fulfilling, rewarding and sobering, because it met needs at a granular level within the community,” while helping Whitaker Center to grow in an unexpected, yet still mission-driven manner.
Whitaker Center also assisted the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra during the pandemic when the Forum building was under construction by providing virtual delivery.
“We have an obligation to be the cultural center of Harrisburg, and we lean into that where we can,” Black said.
Window Opens
During the pandemic, the sudden need for virtual programming drove the Whitaker Center team to create virtual delivery and remote outreach for some of their key programs.
Surgery Live! presents high school students with a unique opportunity to view routine surgeries telecasted live from Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Because Surgery Live! influences high-schoolers to think about multiple careers in the operating room (not just as a surgeon), it’s a program that Black did not want to pause.
Pre-pandemic, students filed in to the Digital Cinema to watch surgeries on the big screen, while a doctor visited the kids in-person to narrate the procedures and answer questions. Then the pandemic pushed Whitaker Center staff to offer the program completely virtually instead of the hybrid format. This expanded the audience for Surgery Live!, allowing virtual field trips for even more students, regardless of their geographic locations.
Other field trips became virtual and socially distanced, too. Whitaker Without Walls provides education from afar. And for the younger kids, WOW (Whitaker on Wheels) delivers interactive STEAM education to preschools, daycare centers and elementary schools.
“We didn’t have the need for virtual programs before COVID,” Black said. “Now, we’ve developed the delivery because of COVID, and we’re able to reach into more areas, even other states.”
The pandemic also pushed many outdoors to seek safer, socially distanced activities. New in October 2022 was Whitaker Center’s Wildwood Preserve partnership: “Weekends with Whitaker.” Weather permitting, kids can become immersed in woodsy topics such as birdwatching, dip netting, tree identification, citizen science and nature appreciation.
New at Harsco
Brand new at the Harsco Science Center through Memorial Day is the temporary exhibit “Questioneers,” originally from the DuPage Children’s Museum. Based on the children’s series of New York Times bestseller chapter books, the bilingual exhibit focuses on problem-solving, featuring its beloved early elementary characters who hold such jobs as engineer, architect, scientist, leader and artist. Whitaker Center’s director of education, Sarah Throckmorton, is planning public outreach community days to highlight the bilingual aspect.
Documentaries Aplenty
The Digital Cinema features a rotation of 10 nature- and space-themed educational films—eight in 3D. Especially for the 3D movies, there’s nothing like watching a movie on a giant screen that’s 40-feet high and eight stories wide, like aerial shots soaring above the Grand Canyon, deep-diving through a coral reef, or watching monarch butterflies migrate through North America. You can even watch a videogame tournament on the big screen.
Culture Change
Despite the lean workforce that has become part of the post-pandemic culture, Black sees the current Whitaker Center staff as “energized, bringing their passion to the job for their particular areas.” He’s looking to build a culture of collaboration and purposeful insubordination [no “yes” people], providing staff members with opportunities to pursue their passions.
This enthusiasm has already influenced creative programming with an emphasis on STEAM, continued growth and fulfilling community partnerships.
Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is located at 222 Market St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.whitakercenter.org.
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