MSI To Look For Another 'Month At The Museum' Candidate
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM) -- Were you green with envy as you heard about Kate McGroarty, the woman who got to sleep in the U-505 submarine and the giant hamster wheel, and and play with miniature books in Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle, at the Museum of Science and Industry?
If so, you're in luck. The "Month at the Museum" contest is back this year.
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"(The winner) will be living in the museum 24/7 for 30 days from mid October to mid November," said MSI spokesman Rob Gallas.
Gallas says the maiden voyage of the month at the museum last year was such a success, they decided to offer the 30-day live in experience a second time.
"The reaction to Month at the Museum exceeded our wildest expectations," said Gallas. "Since Kate McGroarty moved out last November, we have been inundated with requests to give another person the opportunity to live here for 30 days, and it was so much fun, we just had to do it again. This year's Month at the Museum winner will be immersed in science like never before with all new adventures and surprises."
And you don't have to be a science whiz like Leonard and Sheldon from "The Big Bang Theory" to qualify.
"They must be a curious, adventurous outgoing individual, somebody who likes sciences and somebody who likes people," Gallas said.
The basic elements will remain the same. Like last year's winner, one roommate will have full reign of the Museum for 30 days, sharing his or her experience with MSI guests and fans online.
But the winner won't just get to lounge around on the reclining seat in the "YOU! The Experience" exhibit, or sit in the nickelodeon in Yesterday's Main Street and watch Charlie Chaplin movies all day.
The winner will spend his or her days attending learning labs, teacher workshops and live demonstrations.
McGroarty, a teacher and Northwestern University theatre program alum from Andersonville, kept a blog of her experiences in the "Month at the Museum" project last year.
She did everything from dissecting the eyeball of a cow to attending a fancy fundraising ball in the same day. And she even got to bring in a batch of fertilized eggs that later hatched in the Baby Chick Hatchery.
"There is not a SINGLE day that goes by here for me that feels 'normal' or ' routine,'" she wrote in the blog last fall. "Every single day I get to go to new workshops, meet new people, learn new things, see new parts of the building, laugh at hilarious things people say, observe visitors, try new things… I could go on and on, but you get the idea."
McGroarty was the winner among 1,500 applicants last year. Gallas expects the interest this year to double or even triple.
"We are asking people to share their ideas for 'Month at the Museum 2' with us on Facebook and Twitter. We want to know what you would like the winner to do during their museum stay," Gallas said.
The museum will start taking applications in late June. For details, click here.
