Furman interns make learning fun at Upstate children’s museum

Internships are more than a line on a student’s resume. They are opportunities to explore career paths while having a surprising amount of fun.

Three Furman University students are spending their summer blending learning and play through internships at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. Anna Richardson ’26 – a history major from Hartwell, Georgia set to graduate in December – and education studies major Faith Mohr ’27 from Westminster, Maryland, are play and learning interns who get to share their interests and passions with the children and families that visit this playground of a museum.

Meg Sabo ’27 takes pictures at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate as part of her brand and marketing internship. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.

“I grew up coming to The Children’s Museum, so I was very excited when I saw there were several opportunities here,” Richardson said. “When little kids are learning, you can see the gears in their heads turning. They’re like sponges, and they absorb any information or experience you give them.”

In their roles, Richardson and Mohr help design activities and lessons for two areas of the museum: the science and technology-based SteamWORKS, and Tots, which serves children ages 2-5.

At a museum that focuses on play-based learning, these Paladins can get creative in how they build experiences for visitors. While preparing lessons for an upcoming program on medicine and genetics, Mohr is looking to use colored beads to represent genes on genetic strands made from pipe cleaners. A variety of materials, colors and patterns gives students multiple ways to engage with the lesson, while honing their motor skills, dramatic play, number literacy and other essential developmental skills.

Play and Learning guide Avery Rose Higgins, right, helps two Furman interns set up activities at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.

“You start to have a brand-new perspective on what children can do,” Mohr said. “They have so much going on in their brains, we just have to equip them with tools to express that.”

While Furman’s interns get experience, professional connections and perspective on a possible career path out of their internship, their employers also get fresh eyes and enthusiasm in return. Ainsley Pruitt, play and learning manager at the Children’s Museum, said she cherishes the opportunity to be a professional mentor and encourages interns to take ownership over their work. In turn, they bring novel approaches to programs the museum has been running for years.

“An internship might not always be in the career you want to end up in, but it can be a place to experiment and experience new things,” she said.

Meg Sabo ’27 is an education studies and communication studies double major also working at the museum this summer as a brand and marketing intern. She knew she wanted an internship that flexed her digital marketing, design and photography skills, but didn’t think she’d be able to combine that experience with her career goals of becoming a kindergarten teacher.

Meg Sabo ’27 takes pictures of children playing and learning at The Children’s Museum of the Upstate as part of her summer internship. Photo by Nathan Gray, Furman University.

All three students are pursuing careers as educators, but they’ve each taken their own path to get there. Mohr is also interning at the Greenville Literacy Association and went on a May Experience trip this summer to learn about approaches to education in Finland and Italy. This is Richardson’s third summer in an internship as she gears up to pursue the Greenville Alternative Teacher Education program. For Sabo, the Children’s Museum is her first internship experience after two Study Away opportunities.

“I was so stressed out that I wouldn’t find anything, let alone something that I enjoyed,” Sabo said. “But thanks to Furman and the internship office, I found the perfect experience for me.”

To learn more about internship opportunities through Furman University, click here.