To say Grant Goshorn ’02 loves his job at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis might be a bit of an understatement.
Inside Dinosphere® at the museum, wide-eyed children walk through the exhibition, surrounded by earthy smells, rolling thunder, lightning strikes, and larger-than-life dinosaur skeletons towering above. The little explorers’ excitement, and sometimes trepidation, is unmatched as they are transported to the Jurassic era 65 million years back to when giant creatures roamed the earth.
Even on a day when the museum was empty, that same level of animated excitement radiated from Goshorn as he made his way through the world’s largest children’s museum.
“Part of the reason I went to Wabash was because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and part of the reason I like working at the museum is because I still don’t know exactly what I want to do or what I want to study,” Goshorn says, “but I do know I want to learn it all.”
Goshorn has worked at the museum for 13 years and has held several positions during that time. He’s done everything from running the carousel and performing finger puppet plays in the Playscape, to managing the Take Me There®: China exhibit, and coaching and sharing stories of sports icons inside the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience.
Currently, Goshorn works as the STEM Galleries Interpretation Manager. He is responsible for hiring and training interpreters who work in the various exhibits including: Dinosphere®, National Geographic Treasures of the Earth, Corteva Agriscience ScienceWorks, and Beyond Spaceship Earth.
“To be able to work outside and talk about sports, to work with dinosaurs and talk to paleontologists about dig sites, and to work in China and talk about calligraphy—always getting to learn new things just makes life really exciting,” Goshorn says.
Growing up in Columbus, Indiana, surrounded by a family of educators, Goshorn always had that spark and eagerness to “learn it all.”
His mother was a high school chemistry teacher. His dad taught social studies before becoming a principal. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great-aunts and -uncles—on both sides—were also educators.“
Wherever we went on vacation, my parents always made sure it was a spot close to museums and nature trails,” Goshorn says. “If there was a history museum, that was for me and my dad, and then the places where we could go hiking and take pictures of wildflowers and mushrooms was for my mom. We were always exploring.”
Even with that educational foundation, the history and political science double-major wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do after graduating from Wabash.
He remembers attending a job fair on campus and meeting with staff from The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. He thought the job they were advertising sounded fun and applied to work part-time, but he never heard back.“
I went to law school after Wabash because I thought that’s what every good Wally did,” Goshorn says, adding that he was fortunate enough to have some great friends who helped push him toward a career path that would make him most happy.“
It was a year or two after law school where someone finally asked, ‘What did you really want to do when you left college?’” Goshorn says, “I applied for a job at The Children’s Museum but never heard back. That’s when I decided it was time to apply again, and thankfully I got the job.“
My dad likes to say that I just wanted to be a camp counselor, and that I never grew out of that,” the Wabash alum said with wide smile and chuckle. “He thinks I’m a glorified camp counselor, and you know what, I’m OK with that!”
Mark Shreve ’04, a longtime friend and Phi Kappa Psi brother, has had the privilege to watch Goshorn in action at the museum and said his role there fits him perfectly.
“He exudes humility and has talents he doesn’t even know he has. People are just drawn to him,” Shreve says. “When he interacts with someone, he meets them wherever they are. With kids, he gets down to their level, asks questions, and helps them learn what exactly it is that’s right in front of them, and that shows the educator in him.
“If you see Grant with his own daughters, with my nieces, and our friends’ kids, he’s doing everything he does in that museum in real life. His way of engaging with kids knows no time clock.”
Interpretation is fundamental to the way museums develop exhibits, Goshorn said, and to the way visitors experience them. Staff members who serve in this role are responsible for creatively engaging the audience with collections, information, and ideas, and often serve as actors and storytellers.
“It’s an exciting job working with them, watching the energy they bring in, and seeing how they channel the kids’ energies,” he says. “We have fun fine-tuning our skills and that art form of figuring out how to ask questions, how to think in different ways, and create extraordinary experiences for our families.”
During training, Goshorn emphasizes the importance of family learning.
“The goal isn’t just to get the kids excited,” Goshorn says, “but to also spark curiosity in the adults too, so that they can lead conversations, share their experiences, and continue the learning at home. That creates longer memories and a better experience.
“We see family learning happen when Mom asks her child, ‘What do you notice about this dinosaur or what do you think he likes to eat?’” Goshorn says, “or when Grandpa is in the National Art Museum of Sports and talks about Muhammad Ali boxing and says, ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.’
“If we can get those adults involved leading the conversations to the point where the interpreter is not needed anymore, we can take two steps back and know we are doing our jobs right.”
Over the years working as an interpreter himself and now managing the staff, Goshorn has enjoyed observing those family learning moments happening around the museum.But the one that he treasures most involves his own family.
“We’re not a hockey family but my daughter, starting at the age of three, would just go outside and play in the Indy Fuel Hockey Experience and loved it,” Goshorn says. “We are Hoosiers who are all about basketball, but now we go to hockey games too, because of the passion that was ignited in her.
“That chance to inspire families and create that spark to want to find out more and to be interested in something new is what gets me excited—it’s why I do what I do.”