OMA Award Spotlight – Ohio History Connection

Recognizing excellence in Ohio museums during Arts and Humanities Month

To help celebrate October as Arts and Humanities Month, and to kick-off the call for nominations for this year's OMA awards, the Ohio Museums Association is highlighting our 2016 OMA Award of Achievement winners throughout the month with our OMA Award Spotlight. 

Click here to see our previous award spotlight articles.

The Awards of Achievement are presented to reflect the outstanding quality and caliber of work by Ohio museums and their professionals in two categories: Institutional Achievement Awards and Individual Achievement Awards.

Nominations for these awards are incredibly detailed. This in-depth process helps to illustrate how these institutions and individuals have gone “above and beyond” the normal call of duty to support their institution, serve their public and advance the cause of the museum community.

Each year, the review panel is overwhelmed by the outstanding projects, innovative programming and dedication to our field as exhibited in each of the institutional and individual nominations. Congratulations again to each of our award winners! 

Today we'll be featuring our winner for the 2016 award for Best Education and Outreach over $500,000.

Ohio History Connection – Ohio As America 2.0

Ohio as America 2.0 was created by the Ohio History Connection in partnership with INFOhio to provide schools with a comprehensive, standards-aligned, 4th-grade online social studies textbook.

In working with teachers, district curriculum coordinators, and the Ohio Department of education, the Ohio History Connection strengthened their cross-sector relationship with educators, helping to bring resources to their target audience – the students – with as few barriers as possible.

Included in the 2.0 edition are over 150 Google-compatible, teacher-created hands-on activities and student readings, more than 50 short content and skill-based videos, an interactive glossary, teacher guides, interactive pre- and post-assessments, a Gradebook, and over 150 primary source images maps, artifacts and documents.

Utilizing their collection, developing online courses and including professional development for teachers in the program ensures the demand for the project into the future - helping to continue the History Connection’s outreach.

Since its launch in August of 2016, Ohio as America 2.0 has impacted over 23,012 fourth-grade students and 836 fourth-grade teachers in more than 177 schools across the state.

Did your museum have an impactful education or outreach program during the 2017 season? Be sure to nominate it for the 2017 award for Best Education and Outreach! Learn more here.

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