Brayton Elementary and Berkshire Museum Bring Mobile Museum Units to Second Grade

12:41PM / Sunday, December 22, 2024Print Story | Email Story

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — North Adams Public Schools, in partnership with Berkshire Museum, announced a residency project beginning December 2024.

This initiative will engage second-grade students at Brayton Elementary School with seven Mobile Museum Units (MoMUs), incorporating museum objects focused on science and social studies into their visual arts curriculum.

"We are delighted that our second-grade students will have deep engagement with the new MoMU exhibits each month," said Danielle Bowe, visual art teacher at Brayton Elementary School. "It is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with Berkshire Museum to enrich our art curriculum with meaningful projects that relate to the exhibits."

The MoMU residency will provide second-grade students at Brayton with learning experiences that blend art, science, and social studies over a sustained seven-month engagement period. From December to June, a rotation of seven different MoMUs—small traveling exhibits that bring museum objects out into the community—will be installed in the school lobby monthly. Topics include geology, plants, Berkshire history, math found in nature, and more. Through interactive lessons with museum educators, students will explore the museum objects in each MoMU and create artwork inspired by the exhibits during their regular art classes.

"Mobile Museum Units are a critical element of the museum's educational philosophy, especially as we temporarily close for renovations," said Joe Mastronardi, curriculum developer at Berkshire Museum and lead museum educator for the partnership with North Adams Public Schools. "This is our way of staying connected to our county-wide community and emphasizing our profound commitment to everyone. Our MoMU lessons are engaging, object-based STEAM programming for any age; it's always so much fun to teach them."

To support this work, Berkshire Museum has been awarded a $5,000 Creative Projects for Schools grant from Mass Cultural Council, the state's arts agency. Creative Projects for Schools grants support "creative learning experiences in the arts, sciences, and humanities where K-12 students can uncover hidden talents, discover and express their own ideas, build confidence, explore the natural world, and connect to their history and community."

This residency at Brayton builds upon the district's previous partnership with Berkshire Museum—also supported by Mass Cultural Council—to bring art lessons connected to MoMUs to the former Greylock Elementary School during the 2023-2024 school year for students in second and fifth grades.

Tags: Berkshire Museum, NAPS,

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Companion Corner: Ellie at No Paws Left Behind

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
02:58PM / Wednesday, September 23, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — There is a spicy orange tabby looking for her new home.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Ellie is a 5-year-old domestic shorthair who has been at the shelter for about a month. Kennel assistant Claire Morin introduced us to her.

"The family's living situation was changing, and so they surrendered her on that day," she said.

Like a typical orange, Ellie can have a "spicy" side to her and may hiss or growl. But she is also in a shelter setting which can cause more stress.

"Ellie is a very sassy girl. She's been a little bit challenging to handle here because she hates all cats, so ideally she would want to be in a single-cat home," Morin said. "When we get her out, she enjoys being out, but she starts to smell the other cats that are here, and she becomes very antagonistic. The cats are antagonistic toward her as well, but overall she's a very sweet girl."

While Ellie is not a fan of other cats, and since she is in a room with other cats, it can be hard to show off how great she can be without the stress.

Ellie is big on food and likes her wet treats. She also likes being brushed with a toothbrush.

"Ellie loves wet food, which she is devouring right now because it's lunchtime. She loves catnip. She loves being brushed with this giant toothbrush-like brush, and she loves treats," she said.

She can be in a home with older children who can understand her boundaries.

"Ellie would do beautifully if she was the only cat in the house. It would take her a few minutes to warm up with whoever adopts her."

She would also do best as the only one getting attention on her terms and to be respectful of her boundaries. But once out of the shelter setting she may find herself more comfortable and more loving with one-on-one attention.

"We think she would do fantastic in a home where she was the only one getting the attention. She'd be much more comfortable on her own terms."

If you think Ellie could be your companion, be sure to fill out the form on the shelter's website and email or drop it off to No Paws Left Behind on Hodges Cross Road.

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