
When Salvatore Cumella stepped into the executive director role at the Matheson History Museum in September 2024, a key focus for him was figuring out how to expand educational opportunities at the museum.
“When I first got here last fall, one of the things I noticed was we really didn’t have a lot of educational offerings,” Cumella said. “And we weren’t really getting a lot of younger visitors in the museum. And that was for a number of reasons.”
Cumella noted that Alachua County fourth graders used to visit the museum as part of their history field trips. But with funding cuts, followed by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, students eventually stopped coming to the museum, he said.
“History is for everybody, and it’s important that especially younger people understand our history, especially our local history,” Cumella said.
Figuring out how to make this happen was a priority of Cumella’s. It was also challenging as well.
Cumella noted how this year has been financially difficult for not just the Matheson but also other cultural institutions due to significant cuts to state and federal grant funding.
“We’ve had to kind of be creative about what we do, and one of the things we did was we recognized that we didn’t have somebody on staff who really…could dedicate time to just the education component,” he said.
This past summer, the Matheson was able to add a part-time education coordinator, Caroline Amein, by way of a collaborative partnership with the Internship Initiative program offered through the Office of Graduate Professional Development (OGPD) at the University of Florida.
According to the OGPD website, “the Internship Initiative offers graduate students the opportunity to expand their professional skills and network while gaining meaningful work experiences beyond the academic setting.”
Amein’s position, specifically, was a paid internship consisting of 20 hours per week for six to eight weeks.
Cumella said the Internship Initiative program paid and sponsored Amein’s role.
“She worked with us all summer as the education coordinator…,” Cumella said. “We saw the benefit in having her here and being able to bring in school groups.”
The position was one desired by many students.
According to Jim Gillespie, an Education and Training Specialist within the University of Florida Graduate School, roughly 70 applications were submitted for the education coordinator role.
When asked what separated Amein from the other applicants, Gillespie noted that part of it was her “genuine interest” in museums. He added that her field of study, Amein, is also a Ph.D. student at UF, specializing in historical archaeology, cemeteries and the African diaspora, “aligns with the needs” of the Matheson.
“There was just sort of a natural fit there,” Gillespie said.
In an email reply to Mainstreet, Amein said she was “grateful” to have been chosen for the education coordinator internship position.
“From planning field trips, to designing new activities, to just helping run the museum day-to-day, this role pushed me to be creative and adaptable,” she wrote. “This role had the added benefit of getting to know Alachua County’s fascinating history, as well as getting to know and love the Matheson team.”
Amein will have the opportunity to continue to get to know more about the county’s history and her peers, as the Matheson recently hired her on staff to serve part-time in the same capacity.
Cumella said Amein works one day a week on Fridays.
“We have a small, limited staff,” Cumella said. “It was a lot for any of us in our other roles to take on the education component. It really needs somebody who that is their only thing that they’re looking at. She [Amein] was such a great fit with the UF [Internship Initiative] program…that we were happy that she was able to work one day a week with us.”
In her education coordinator role, Cumella said Amein will be heading up group tours and field trips at the museum and will also be tasked with exploring “new [and] creative ways of bringing in younger people at all levels, from K-12, to even partnering with university [of Florida] students.”
Amein touched on how she plans to draw in the K-12 audience when asked what she hopes to bring to the museum in her new role.
“There is so much potential to use hands-on activities to engage K-12 students in local history, and I am hoping to work with parents and educators about how we can best serve their needs,” she wrote.
There is no cost for visitors to get into the Matheson; however, donations are encouraged. Cumella emphasized the importance of community support to “keep history alive.”
Amein shared a similar viewpoint, specifically about the youth.
“I am a deep believer in the mission to preserve and tell the story of our past, especially for the next generation,” she wrote. “I believe that the Matheson History Museum can spark an interest in our past and a passion for learning in visitors of every age.”
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.