ShoreCorps/PALS Aid Ward Museum at Smithsonian Festival

SALISBURY, MD---Working with children can be tough for a mother of just two or three. When officials from the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art, Salisbury University, learned they would be working with some 10,000 during the inaugural day of this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., they called for reinforcements from ShoreCorps/PALS (Partnership for Adolescents on the Lower Shore). The Ward is featured at the Children’s Tent during the festival’s opening day, Wednesday, June 23, on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Ward Education Department officials have constructed a program about life in a marsh. They and and volunteers from ShoreCorps/PALS guide children through “fishing” in a polluted pond, creating folk art with household objects, wood carving, storytelling, puppet shows and “measuring up” to various bird wingspans. ShoreCorps/PALS’ mission is to serve at-risk youth and adolescents in the classroom through in- and after-school programs and non-profit agencies, improving grades and life skills, reducing conflict and increasing volunteerism. An AmeriCorps agency, ShoreCorps/PALS provides mentoring, tutoring, conflict resolution training, family support and community outreach. For information on becoming an AmeriCorps member this fall call the PALS office at 410-548-5119.