* Name: Jayne Griffin
* Job title: Director of education
* Location: Creative Discovery Museum
* First job: Working at Eckerd’s behind the pharmacy counter.
* Favorite part of job: “Oh man, everything. I’ve got the best job in town. It’s different every day. I work with people who are fun and passionate about what they’re doing. If we can dream it, we can do it. Where else does that happen? It’s just great.”
* Special rewards: “There are lots of them. One is, of course, seeing kids that come back over and over again.” She relishes hearing comments from families who say they planned only a short visit to the museum and ended up staying all day. “Kids feel a sense of ownership in the museum. I love seeing that, when kids come in and they feel like the museum is theirs.” She also enjoys seeing staff members mature, particularly the teen volunteers. “It’s an entity that grows you and changes you in very positive ways. In 13 years, I’ve never seen anybody leave the museum worse than before they came.”
* Best advice: “When mistakes are made, if everyone survives and we learn something – it’s all good. It’s all going to be fine.”
* Making a career of it: She said a lot of people who are in museum education have more of an education background and not so much a curatorial training, particularly in hands-on museums such as hers. She was a classroom teacher. “People come to the children’s museum from a lot of different routes,” she said. “Many have an education background. Many have backgrounds in science and arts education. Early childhood background may be more helpful. Being a museumgoer helps tremendously.”