Growing up, Caroline didn't have much exposure to craft beer. During winter break of her senior year of college, Caroline came home to Baltimore and began working at the Heavy Seas brewery. During these weekend shifts, Caroline had her first real experience tasting Heavy Seas craft beers, recalling they were "full of flavor and character." After graduating college, she joined the Heavy Seas marketing department full time and recently celebrated her five-year anniversary in the craft beer industry.

Heavy Seas Beer will celebrate 22 years of business this December, and Caroline is deeply proud to be a part of the family business, explaining "To say it's a privilege to work for one of Baltimore's oldest and most well-known craft breweries is an understatement." Caroline's passion for planning Heavy Seas' events comes partly from her enjoyment of working with her father Hugh and seeing him do what he loves. "My dad is a very animated person, but he's also incredibly smart," she said. Events are also key opportunities for Heavy Seas to connect with their customers, and to proudly share their products and history. "The Heavy Seas brand is fearless, bold, and independent," Caroline explains ---- a clear extension of the energy and passion of its staff.

On a recent blustery Saturday morning, museum teacher Mike Kuethe could be found helping young visitors build paper rockets then use a high-powered air compressor to launch them towards a board with targets marked Mars and Moon. Nick, age 12, comes to the museum nearly every weekend to participate in Weekend Workers, the drop-in hands-on learning program taking place each Saturday. Included with admission, the activities vary from making a board game, to designing a race car to creating a working windmill. The activities all challenge children to use their imaginations while enhancing their understanding of engineering principles. Most of all, they are fun!

Zoe, age 9, just discovered the museum and was so inspired by the volunteer blacksmith in the Machine Shop that she has decided to become a blacksmith when she's older. 

With a Master's degree in History, Mike has been a museum teacher at the BMI for two years and recently took over the Weekend Workers program. "The work I did in graduate school exposed me to a wide range of historical topics, and my professors always encouraged me to think critically about the value of studying any given topic. That flexibility is important at the BMI because every program we offer engages our visitors in different ways," he says. "Sometimes we're talking about Baltimore in the nineteenth century and encouraging our visitors to think about working conditions, workers rights, and immigration. Other times I'll be teaching kids about electrical circuits or architecture and trying to get them to appreciate the principles of engineering. Just like in my graduate work, there's always something new, and we have to keep in mind the importance of each lesson."

Weekend programs educator Mike Kuethe teaches topics ranging from nineteenth-century Baltimore history to engineering principles.

He says the best part of managing Weekend Workers has been translating big ideas in science, technology, and social studies into fun activities for museum visitors. "Some of the best interactions I've had at Weekend Workers involved more than one generation discovering something new through the activity," he says.

Two upcoming programs are especially exciting: On December 16, program participants will make industrial jewelry, and on December 30 visitors can make art with long-exposure photography. Weekend Workers weekly themes can be found online and no reservations are needed to participate.