Wells Fargo donates $100,000 to support innovative Thinkery museum at DVISD Central CDC

Wells Fargo recently donated $100,000 to Thinkery’s one-of-a-kind neighborhood museum in Del Valle, breathing life into the hands-on, play-based STEAM education approach of the Thinkery at the Del Valle ISD Central Child Development Center.

The neighborhood museum at the Central CDC is the dream of DVISD Superintendent Dr. Annette Tielle and Thinkery CEO Andy Bell. Working together, the two created an innovative learning facility to serve the burgeoning Del Valle community.

“Having this facility for our children so they are able to learn and grow here, but even more importantly, opening it up for our community on the weekends and after school - that’s what’s exciting. The students were talking about how excited they were to get to go to Thinkery and that they wished that it was closer because they needed transportation. Now it’s here in Del Valle,” Dr. Tielle said.

“I want to thank Wells Fargo, I want to thank Andy Bell and the board at Thinkery, I want to thank the DVISD board for supporting this because it really is something that is going to take the Del Valle community to the next level."

The neighborhood museum collaboration was the next step of the partnership between Thinkery and DVISD. The education-focused non-profit began working with the district three years ago, implementing a professional development program for early childhood educators in the district. 

“The pinnacle of where Dr. Tielle and I saw the opportunity going was to cohabitate and to think about this space in a really new and unique way. It’s an incredible child development center for the district. Thinkery is supporting this space with our instructional coaches. Over the next year, we will finish the design and fabrication of Thinkery exhibits.” Andy said. 

The museum at the Central CDC will feature many unique and hands-on exhibits like those at the Thinkery location in the Mueller neighborhood. The neighborhood museum will include 13,000 square feet of learning space, such as a maker space, an indoor learning lab, and 30 hands-on, play-based exhibits. It is on track to be fully operational and open to the public in August 2024.

Serving DVISD’s growing families and staff by day, the neighborhood museum will open to the Del Valle community outside of school hours, which will be made possible by philanthropic support like that of Wells Fargo. The generous $100,000 donation will fund the interactive exhibits, incorporating environmental sustainability into its design and related educational programming.

“We couldn't think of more of a slam dunk to partner with Del Valle ISD and Thinkery to bring a world-class educational experience and community asset to this growing community. As we think of the future and what it’s going to look like, we need to think of providing world-class educational resources to our children to shape them to be the next leaders to guide us into a beautiful, sustainable future,” said Wells Fargo Regional Vice President and Community Impact Christopher Rios. 

“When we think about what’s going to happen here, we’re thinking about having a community asset where hundreds of children are going to have a world-class educational experience but also access for our teachers to have the resources to bring better educational experiences for our children.”

Wells Fargo presented the donation during a ceremony at the Central CDC on Dec. 18. Many supporters attended, as well as members of the DVISD Board of Trustees, including Vice President Ann Heuberger, Secretary Elvia Guadian, and Member Shaira Ramzanali.