Volunteer Profile: Jody Morris

Jody Morris, Discovery Volunteer

Jody Morris is a valuable member of The Discovery family. Since she became a volunteer in July 2015, Jody has dedicated 170 hours of her time to furthering The Discovery’s mission while helping to bring Art Alcove, the museum’s art space, to life.

Raised in Carson City, Jody graduated from Carson City High School and attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where she received a Bachelors in Physical Education and later a masters’ degree in Education. Jody served as an elementary school teacher in Carson City and Washoe County for over 30 years. Now retired, Jody spends her time serving the community. Her philanthropic activities include knitting hats and scarves for underserved youth, making caps for premature babies and chemotherapy patients at Renown Regional Medical Center, and serving with Alpha Delta Kappa, an international organization comprised of women educators who support educational and charitable projects within their communities. When she isn’t volunteering for various community organizations, Jody enjoys playing the clarinet, hiking and “chasing waterfalls” in Nevada, California, Washington, and Oregon.

Jody spends her volunteer time at The Discovery creating fun and engaging activities for visitors to enjoy in Art Alcove, The Discovery’s art space, where art informs science, and science informs art. Her favorite thing about volunteering at The Discovery is the people she works with during her volunteer time, saying that everyone is, “full of life and full of energy.”

Jody was recognized as The Discovery’s “Volunteer of the Year” in April for her outstanding service over the past two years. We are very grateful to have volunteers like Jody who dedicate their time to furthering our mission in the Northern Nevada community.

The Discovery’s Volunteer Program recognizes the value of service and encourages members of our community to participate in activities that engage and inspire our visitors. Over the last four years, The Discovery has hosted nearly 1,000 volunteers who have served over 61,000 hours! Furthermore, our volunteers have contributed over $1.4 million dollars in service value to support the museum, including curriculum development, special event support, and visitor engagement.

In 2016 alone, 250 volunteers dedicated over 9,600 hours of their time in support of The Discovery’s mission to bring hands-on, informal science education to visitors of all ages.

2017 marks The Discovery’s second year as a certified Service Enterprise. This certification was awarded through Points of Light, the largest volunteer service organization in the world. Points of Light’s Service Enterprise Initiative inspires nonprofit organizations in the United States to leverage volunteer talent, knowledge and skills to address community needs. This national certification demonstrates The Discovery’s commitment to utilizing the specialized skills of its volunteers to bring informal learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) concepts to our region.

Volunteers can support The Discovery in many ways. To find out how you can become a volunteer, check out the volunteer section of our website.