By MARIE NESMITH
KidsOutAndAbout.com’s readers named Tellus Science Museum the No. 1 ‘place to take kids.’ Launched in 2001, the website announced the winners of its annual survey — Best Places for Kids in the Atlanta area — Aug. 18.
“Wow! There are so many fantastic museums in the metro Atlanta area,” said Shelly Redd, director of marketing for Tellus. “To even be on the list is an honor in itself. To be voted No. 1, well, that is the icing on the cake.
“It’s so gratifying to our staff and volunteers to win an award that is voted on by guests. Everything we do, we do it with our guests in mind — from choosing incredible exhibits, planning fun events, picking out awe-inspiring planetarium shows — we do all of those things in hopes that it will be something the guests find enjoyable, while still learning something new. Having them vote for us as ‘The Best’ is a sign that we are delivering what our guests want from us.”
Along with Tellus, the contest winners included Zoo Atlanta, second; Smith-Gilbert Gardens, third; Georgia Aquarium, fourth; Billy Beez Mall of Georgia, fifth; My Local Library, sixth; Chattahoochee Nature Center, seventh; Fernbank Science Center, eighth; Atlanta Botanical Garden, ninth; Six Flags Over Georgia, 10th; Urban Air Adventure Park, 11th; Fernbank Museum of Natural History,12th; Catch Air, 13th; North Georgia Wildlife Park, 14th; Children’s Museum of Atlanta, 15th; HippoHopp Indoor Playground, 16th; Pine Mountain Wild Animal Safari, 17th; Andretti Indoor Karting, 18th; Dunwoody Nature Center, 19th; and Six Flags White Water, 20th.
Tellus also captured the Favorite Kid-Friendly Museum accolade in the special categories portion of the survey, which also featured another Cartersville venue.
The top special categories’ vote-getters included Favorite Place to Have Fun Inside, Sky Zone; Favorite Place to Have Fun Outside, Zoo Atlanta; Favorite Performing Arts, Center for Puppetry Arts; Favorite Farm, Cartersville’s Pettit Creek Farms; Favorite Nature Center, Atlanta Botanical Garden; Favorite Professional Sports Team, Atlanta Braves; Favorite Arts Education, The Woodruff Arts Center; and Favorite Sports Education, Akrosphere Aerial & Circus Arts.
“2019 was our best year ever as far as visitation goes,” Redd said. “We served close to 205,000 guests. In general, about 40,000 of those are from field trip kids, teachers and chaperones. Of course, our 2020 numbers are quite a bit lower with the current pandemic and the required visitation restrictions in place.
“While we are still seeing guests in the museum, we are also finding ways to connect with our guests who can’t visit just yet. For instance, our education department is converting our on-site field trip programs to virtual programs. Since so many of the schools have eliminated field trips this year, we needed to find a way to make sure the students still had access to our award-winning programs.”
To broaden its audience, Tellus is offering a virtual tour of its “Spanning the World of Minerals: The Gail and Jim Spann Collection” exhibit and live streaming its Lunch and Learn programs on Facebook and YouTube.
An expansion of the former Weinman Mineral Museum, Tellus is a program of Georgia Museums Inc. The Cartersville museum, which is situated at 100 Tellus Drive, became a Smithsonian affiliate during its opening year in 2009.
The 120,000-square-foot venue is comprised of four main galleries — Collins Family My Big Backyard, Millar Science in Motion, Weinman Mineral Gallery and the Fossil Gallery — a 120-seat digital planetarium, solar house and observatory.
Tellus has implemented various social distancing and sanitary measures since reopening to the general public June 20, including requiring the public to purchase tickets online and temporarily closing various children’s exhibits.
“So many things that kids experience these days are digital and virtual, and I was a bit concerned when we had to shut down some of our interactive areas,” Tellus Executive Director Jose Santamaria said. “But it really warms my heart to know that kids still respond to real things — minerals, gems, dinosaurs, space artifacts — we have exhibits they will not see anywhere else in the Southeast and I enjoy seeing entire families being delighted by these exhibits.”
Prior to the pandemic, Redd shared, some of Tellus’ most popular kids’ offerings were the hands-on My Big Backyard gallery, Fossil Dig, special exhibits and educational events, such as RockFest and Holiday PJ Party.
“Things are different at the museum now, though, given the pandemic,” Redd said. “Honestly, I was a little nervous when the museum first reopened.
“I knew some of our children’s exhibits were going to have to remain temporarily closed for safety and sanitization reasons, like My Big Backyard gallery and Fossil Dig. I worried about what the general public’s reaction to that would be.”
She noted Tellus is “fortunate” that its patrons continue to be “understanding and supportive” as the pandemic carries on.
“What I had forgotten, and what I found great comfort in, was that it didn’t matter if a couple of things were closed,” Redd said. “We still offer so many ‘Wow!’ moments and ‘Oohs!’ and ‘Aahs!’ that guests still felt like they received great value during their visit.
“When a child walks into the museum and they’re breathless looking up at our big Brontosaurus in the Great Hall — that’s my favorite part of the day. And, luckily, I get to see it every day.”
For more information about Tellus, call 770-606-5700 or visit https://tellusmuseum.org or its Facebook page.
