by Kaylee Gund

Hi all,

Stego the Stegosaurus here, putting my best plate forward for the beginning of the school year!

Stego the Stegosaurus, team leader for the field trips department.

I was chatting with my Discovery Guide pals the other day and we’re all looking forward to the great school field trips we see every year. But surprisingly, a few local teachers they’ve spoken to are intimidated by the prospect of planning a field trip.

I have to admit, the idea of taking more than 500 students off campus and bringing them back in one piece does sound overwhelming, but here at HMNS, it’s our job to make field trips the best possible experience for everyone involved.

As the face of the Youth Education Sales team, I, Stego the Stegosaurus, feel duty-bound to dispel the myth that organizing a field trip is by nature stressful. In fact, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to two wonderful ladies who can give you all sorts of great tips and ideas for students to put a spike in their learning curve (pun intended).

Karly Hunt, Marketing Coordinator (khunt@hmns.org).

The newest member of our team, Karly Hunt, is the Marketing Coordinator for all districts west of Houston. She comes to us from Liberty Hill ISD, where she taught high school science. Karly, by the way, appreciates a good chemistry joke, but unfortunately all the good ones Argon… Get it?

This is Karly’s first year at HMNS, but she is already hard at work sharing her love of all things scientific with Houston educators. Her favorite part of the museum is the Morian Hall of Paleontology.

“We have such an amazing collection that really puts prehistory in perspective,” Karly said.

Needless to say, being a dinosaur myself, I like her already!

When she’s not traveling to schools, you’ll find Karly spending time outside, enjoying music of all genres, and playing with her dogs.

Cathy Walton, Lead Marketing Coordinator (cwalton@hmns.org).

Cathy Walton, our Lead Marketing Coordinator, is the museum representative for schools in Houston ISD, districts centrally located in the metroplex, and districts to the East. Having originally taught World Geography in Tennessee, she began her career at HMNS three years ago. Cathy is a wizard at finding field trip packages that fit an individual teacher’s needs, and she loves being able to work with amazing educators to help them inspire their students. She encourages teachers to “be as creative as you can to get students excited about learning!”

Cathy enjoys hiking, cooking, and entertaining (when she’s not hanging out with us dinos, of course). Fun fact: she grew up in Shelbyville, Tenn., better known as “Pencil City,” home of the No. 2 pencil!

If you have any questions or would like to know what exciting new exhibits your students can learn from next, feel free to contact one of these representatives. Check out our free curriculum and our field trip preparation guide for more info, too. And you can fill out a booking request form online if you already have an idea of what you’d like to do at the museum.

Have fun, keep learning, and we’ll see you soon!

Sincerely,

Stego

Editor’s Note: Kaylee Gund is in Youth Education Sales at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.