Northwestern alumna Kate McGroarty will find out Wednesday if she gets to spend the next month sharing a home with a U-505 submarine and several of Jim Henson’s Muppet creations.
McGroarty, Communication ‘08, is one of five finalists in a Museum of Science and Industry academic contest, the prizes for which include $10,000.
The contest, “Month at the Museum”, gives one winner the opportunity of living in the museum full-time for 30 days to explore the 14-acre building, conduct research and report experiences to the outside world via a blog posted on the museum’s website. McGroarty beat out nearly 1,500 people to make the final five.
All applicants submitted a video and essay in August, which were reviewed by a panel of museum faculty, which selected semifinalists and finalists for phone and in-person interviews. The videos of the top five finalists were posted on the museum’s website for the public to vote on.
“We want to see who the public wants as well as who we want,” said Beth Boston, public relations manager at the museum. “We’re looking for someone who would be really engaged and curious about science. We want people to get excited about what’s going on here.”
McGroarty majored in theater at NU and now lives and works in Chicago as a teacher and director at North Shore Country Day School. She decided to apply to the contest after seeing an advertisement in RedEye.
McGroarty said she saw the contest as an opportunity to promote science education for young people.
Although a high school astronomy class is the only science background she can claim, McGroarty said she has a lifelong love for museums. The Minneapolis native said the first time she visited New York City, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at the Lincoln Center was at the top of her list for tourist destinations.
While living in the museum, the contest winner will participate in labs, tours, workshops and coursework. There will also be some free time for exploring the 77-year-old building’s “nooks and crannies,” according to the museum’s website.
“It would be just like being an explorer,” McGroarty said. “People have been on the moon, but no one’s done this before.”
Before entering the contest, applicants had to agree to live in the museum for 30 days with limited contact with the outside world and with limited use of cell phones and e-mail. The participant will be provided with dormitory-style living quarters.
“We want them to be able to articulate their adventure through only one portal: their blog on our website,” Boston said. “We want the info out that way rather than to their friends and a lot of people at different times.”
If she wins, McGroarty will take the month off from her day job. She said her school has been very supportive of her participation in the contest.
“It’s not an experience that a lot of people could handle, but Kate’s perfect for it,” said Madeline Duffy-Feins, Communication ’09, an NU classmate and now co-worker of McGroarty’s. “She loves to learn, she loves meeting new people, she loves writing, and I think people will be interested in what she says.”
The winner will be announced Wednesday at a special finalists’ breakfast, and move-in day is Oct. 20. If she wins, McGroarty will live in the museum until Nov. 18 and walk away with the $10,000 plus whatever technical gadgets she needs to report on her museum experience.
“That’s more money than I’ve ever had in my bank account at once,” McGroarty said. “I’d probably use it as a writing grant to work on some projects that I haven’t had time for or to go back to grad school.”
