Foncello, Newtown Legislative Delegation Present Citation to EverWonder Children’s Museum, Celebrates Grand Reopening

Newtown—State Representative Martin Foncello (R-107) and State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) attended the grand reopening of the EverWonder Children’s Museum on Friday, June 23, 2023, participating in the museum’s ribbon-cutting at their new, greatly expanded “forever home” at 11 Mile Hill Road in Newtown.

Foncello said: “I brought my grandkids to their old location and seeing all of the new, expanded exhibits here, I’m looking forward to bringing them to visit again. There are so many hands-on learning experiences for children and with this new space, they’re able to bring more offerings to additional age groups.”

EverWonder is now able to serve children up to 12 years old EverWonder is now able to serve children up to 12 years old. The new location includes a STEM lab for afterschool programming for kids 8-12 where they can learn coding, programming, and play science-based games among other activities.

Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) said: “EverWonder is such a wonderful success story!  They even managed to grow and engage kids during the pandemic.  When Connecticut public schools were closed, and with their own doors closed, EverWonder operated continuously, providing “at-home enrichment kits” of fun learning resources and engaging experiments. They were a very special “pandemic responder”. They did all that despite having no admission revenue coming-in.  Their commitment to their mission was unbending and, with the support of Governor Lamont and leaders of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, the state was able to provide some pandemic relief funds to reward the efforts of EverWonder, and other Connecticut children’s museums”.

The delegation recognized EverWonder for cultivating a lifelong love-of-learning in children by encouraging them to think, inquire, and wonder about the world around them, and sparking imagination in the fields of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.

Bolinsky added: “The rapidly-growing children’s museum excels in presenting STEM enrichment.  The expansion makes EverWonder one of Connecticut’s largest Children’s museums, and will support programming, year-round, to an even greater number families. This will also provide a positive economic impact benefit our town, local businesses, and neighboring communities.”

At the ribbon cutting, Foncello and Hwang presented a citation from the Connecticut General Assembly to EverWonder board members.  The Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce also attended the ribbon cutting.

EverWonder has previously been awarded state grant funding from CT Humanities.

“I’m hopeful that the Newtown delegation can secure additional resources for the organization. They’re using play-based learning for the younger kids, teaching them math and science in a way that is fun. In the grocery store area, they can learn to make change through addition and subtraction, and there’s an area where they can learn how food grows,” said Foncello.

The museum’s new location also includes a sensory lab, a space geared toward kids on the Autism Spectrum. The facility is also ADA approved and accessible and has a dedicated group entrance for kids coming in on field trips so they can go right into the classroom spaces.