Docent Duty

Do you know what a docent is? (I've been kind of surprised at how many people I've met that don't know and have never heard the word.) Well, a docent is a museum teacher, usually a volunteer, and I am a docent at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. Of course, this is not a pure, selfless, volunteer act on my part. I help the museum by being a docent in the halls and dealing with the public; and they help me by connecting me to all sorts of information and people pertinent to my book project. It's a nice little symbiotic relationship...give a little, take a little.
My typical day at the museum (which is Wednesday, if you care to drop in and see me in action), starts off in the Discovery Room. This is a romper-room of sorts where kids, families, and school groups can get their hands on stuff. (We keep a lot of hand sanitizer handy in there.) I help out with the school programs in the morning, usually assisting with one or two hands-on lessons for visiting school groups. It's fun and it feels a bit like school, but I don't have to grade papers or be "highly qualified" or anything.
After the lesson, I head to the "members-only" cafe--the cafeteria for Smithsonian employees. Apparently, I qualify. I'm in the club! (But I still feel a bit dorky, since I often sit by myself. I miss my lunch buddies in NH!)
Then it's out into the halls for the afternoon. I put on my docent vest (think safari vest, with the word DOCENT embroidered in giant print on the back--we don't want anyone to mistake me for a fashion-challenged wanderer); I load up my Discovery Cart with all sorts of goodies (artifacts, specimens, etc.); and I plant myself in my hall of choice, which is currently the mammal hall. I spread my wares on the cart to lure unsuspecting museum guests into a mini-lesson on, you guessed it, taxidermy! I've become well-versed on the subject, although I have yet to create a mount. I have all sorts of fur samples, glass eyeballs, plastic noses, as well as a foam form of a squirrel. People can't resist touching the fur samples and I can't resist making them guess what mammals they are from. The best sample is a full pelt of a fur seal. It is quite beautiful and it is ridiculously silky, dense and soft. So, why people would guess that it is from a bear, wolf, or cow (!!!), I cannot even begin to understand.
I also have a swatch of opossum fur. It's really pretty nice, considering the unappealing look of the critter. Yesterday, I had a 6 or 7 year old girl named Kayla guessing the furs. She's the one in the blue baseball cap in the photo. Here's a snippet of our conversation.
Me: (holding the bison fur) So, what mammal do you think this fur came from? Here's a clue: it was important to the plains Indians.
Kayla: Um... I think it's bison.
Me: Wow! How did you know that?
Kayla: I'm taking social studies. (Duh.)
Me: Well, you must be paying attention. How about this fur? (holding out the opossum fur) Here's a clue. It's from the only marsupial in North America.
Kayla: Um... um...
Me: It starts with "O".
Kayla: Oh! Oh! I know! O...O...Opotamus!!!!
Too darn cute! I love this job.
So, come on over to the Natural History Museum... I have all sorts of stuff to show you!