Where Everybody Is a Kid

For more than three decades, Raven Hill Discovery Center has focused on the power of curiosity for all ages

By Deb Dent | April 22, 2023

If you’re looking for a one-room schoolhouse, a 20-foot-long 3D periodic table of the elements, a replica Easter Island Head, a print shop, and an amateur radio station…where do you go? (Oh, and add a few cool reptiles and a Smithsonian exhibit to the order for good measure!)

If you guessed Raven Hill Discovery Center, you guessed right. Spanning over 170 acres of diverse habitats in a rural area of Charlevoix County, the center has spent the last three decades providing a unique and inspirational space that encourages hands-on learning for people from every generation.

According to Founder and CEO Cheri Leach, “For 32 years, the center’s focus on the bonds between science, history, culture, and art have strengthened. These connections emerge through exhibits, accessible facilities, and programs that provide opportunities to learn, create, grow, and play—engaging all ages, genders, and abilities.”

She adds, “People learn, understand and retain information better if they can connect learning to their own life experiences.”

Making Connections

Former board member and long-time volunteer Nancy Hellman agrees that Raven Hill is a timeless and magical place full of opportunities to explore and to learn.

“Where can you build a tower from washers on a large magnet table? Where can you explore a tree that is accessible to one in a wheelchair? Where can you enjoy a shibori class? Where can you sign up to use quality woodworking tools? Where can individuals from [age] one to 100 engage and enjoy experiences at one northern Michigan location?”

The appeal for all age groups—and the center’s long, beloved tenure—is the draw for so many community members. Hellman says has seen people who used to visit the center when they were kids bring their families back to the center to entertain and educate their own children.

She has also witnessed guests who came to the center as children that come back during spring break as college students, with their buddies in tow, to compete against each other in the Rollaway Challenge; a super addicting game in which you need to make a pathway for a golf ball to travel across and down a vertical wall of wooden tiles as slowly as possible without stopping.

“Each visit to RHDC has the potential to create new and different connections,” says Hellman. “Simply moving the location of pieces in the main museum will have people notice a collection or want to learn more about specific items.”

On Exhibit

The nonprofit is open throughout the year, allowing folks to learn more about the world around them through exploring indoor exhibits in the cooler months, like the Wood and Metal Shop and the Energy House, an off-the-grid house that demonstrates solar energy conversion and sustainable living.

Popular outdoor exhibits are opening up for spring, including Beyond Jurassic Park, which dives into the geological history of our planet; the Earth Tones Music Garden, featuring recycled and tuned instruments in an outdoor garden; and the Treehouse, an accessible tree house built in the shape of a leaf.

Their newest exhibit, conveniently located behind the existing Evolving Technology Building, is the Evolving Technology Addition (ETA), which showcases a timeline of the technology of daily life within 16 time periods, all the way from the Stone Age to modern day. You’ll learn about cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, tools, toys, and games, as well as the forms of communication used during each time period.

Outside of the building, the new ETA panels will highlight the technology of clothing, shelter, energy, and transportation within those same 16 eras. This will then lead visitors to the Wetlands Boardwalk—built to cross the swamp between Raven Hill’s main campus and the Ancient World exhibit, where visitors find replicas of everything from an Egyptian pyramid to a Roman arch.

For those who can’t make it to East Jordan, Raven Hill also offers outreach programs—including Museum to Go, Reptiles to Go, or Under Michigan: The State’s Geologic History—that are available for small group learning opportunities at off-campus sites and classrooms. And their touring exhibits, like History Heritage & STEAM, regularly travel to local schools, camps, and public libraries throughout northern Michigan.

Coming Soon

Haley Tasiemski, Raven Hill’s Camp Director, is looking forward to the Summer Classes for Kids the center will be offering this summer. She says the program inspires creativity and provides real, hands-on learning experiences for the students.

Classes start June 12 and run through Aug. 24 in three-day blocks ($100/week or $30/day). The program includes morning (10:30am-12pm) and afternoon (12:30-2pm) sessions with a history, science, and art component to them where students can focus on a specific subject area, such as Science Magic, Pioneer Living, or Fiber Arts. Lunch is supervised for kiddos who do both the morning and afternoon sessions.

“I love teaching the classes,” says Tasiemski. “The kids are always surprising me with their creativity and how they build on their knowledge from previous years. It’s also great way for children to make new friends and bond over all the different activities Raven Hill has to offer.”

After the summer camp season is over, Raven Hill will be one of only six sites in the state of Michigan hosting the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street’s Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit. The display will showcase a variety of inspirational stories from over 30 smaller communities that exemplify innovation and invention.

The Smithsonian’s website explains, “Invention can happen anywhere and it’s happening right now in small towns across America. Rural Americans are creating new products, taking risks, meeting challenges together, and seizing upon exciting opportunities that change local life and sometimes reach far beyond.”

This exhibit will be running Aug. 26 to Oct. 7 and will be housed within the center’s Great Room. Entry is included with general admission.

Dates and Details

Since “everyone is considered a kid at Raven Hill,” admission is $10 per person for everyone except for babies under one, who get in free. The price of admission includes both the indoor and outdoor exhibits, though you can also pay just $5 and enjoy the outdoor space. Leach says the average visit lasts approximately two or three hours, so plan for a full day of fun.

Raven Hill Discovery Center is open to the public year-round on weekends—12-4pm on Saturdays and 2-4pm on Sundays—with hours expanding between Memorial Day and Labor Day. (They’re almost always open by appointment, too.) Be sure to keep an eye out for complimentary-entry days for local families and residents, including open houses and FREE (Families Reaching for Educational Excellence) Second Saturdays.

“Spring is a great time to come and visit Raven Hill,” says Leach. “Come rediscover the Taxi Trail, and, if you haven’t seen it, interact with the science, history, and art on the adjacent Connections Trail. Explore all the inside exhibits and be sure and say hello to Sheldon and Checkers in the Animal Room!”

Find Raven Hill Discovery Center at 4737 Fuller Road in East Jordan. miravenhill.org, (231)-536-3369