Teen Newsletter: June 2020 – The “Who?” Behind the CDC Museum Disease Detective Camp

In 2005, the David J. Sencer CDC Museum started the CDC Museum Disease Detective Camp, and has been hosting it every summer since. The David J. Sencer CDC Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, uses award-winning exhibits and innovative programing to educate visitors about the value of public health, and presents the rich heritage and vast accomplishments of CDC.

The CDC Museum has three permanent exhibitions:

1. The Story of CDC, which traces the origins and early history of CDC through its expansion into an agency of public health programs emphasizing prevention. The story is told through documents, photographs and objects from the CDC Collection. Coming Soon – a virtual tour of this exhibit!
2. Global Symphony, an unparalleled multi-media installation highlighting the world of CDC and public health. Spanning 100 feet in length, the Global Symphony communicates public health messages through intriguing narratives alternated with visual vignettes.
3. 

   The Messengers, a large-scale serpentine stone sculpture by renowned artist Lameck Bonjisi of Zimbabwe, who died of AIDS in 2003. The Messengers is an example of Shona sculpture, reflecting traditional and contemporary Zimbabwean culture. The intention of the artist was to honor his ancestors and to represent the strength of families. CDC has chosen the work as a symbol of this facility’s mission – to educate all who visit about the interplay of public health, culture, and community.

The CDC Museum also offers temporary exhibitions. See information about all the past exhibits that have been displayed. Here is a newly released online exhibit of a past temporary exhibit: Watching Hands: Artists Respond to Keeping Well.

This temporary exhibition was on display at the CDC Museum from 2011-2012. It asks how art can communicate and interpret the practice of one of the most simple and effective disease prevention strategies: handwashing.

Meet the Camp Moms!

Camp is organized and conducted by the David J. Sencer CDC Museum Education Department.

Trudi Bothma Ellerman, M.Ed., is the Education Director. She has been with the CDC for 19 years. Trudi began her journey at CDC in the Office of Science Education as an ORISE fellow. She is a Georgia-certified science teacher with gifted endorsement and has also taught biology and environmental health in the public school system. Trudi has been with the CDC Museum for 17.5 years and she created camp 15 years ago! She is married to her college sweetheart, Keith, and they have 12-year-old twin boys, Grady and Cole, and a one eyed dog named Obi.

Heather Michelle McCann, MPH, CPH, MCHES, is the Museum Educator. She has been with CDC for four years and started off in the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) as an ORISE fellow. While at NCBDDD working on FASD prevention, she volunteered with the CDC Museum as a docent and with camp for three years. Before starting at CDC, she worked in Florida teaching adolescent sexual health education for five years. Heather is also married to her college sweetheart, Pat, and they have a 21-month-old boy, Patrick III, who goes by PJ.