Youngsters explore ancient art at Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day

by Jennifer Greenstein Altmann
Six-year-old Aisling Flaherty dashed through a room at the Princeton University Art Museum, hunting for a knight. "There!" she said, showing her father a massive reclining stone figure clutching a sword. "I just turned around and saw it." Next she needed to find a dragon. "This is so hard," she said, carefully examining the other statues in the medieval gallery with an eye out for the sharp claws of a dragon.

Aisling and her father, Martin Flaherty, who is a fellow in the Program in Law and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, were participants in the University's Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day. The national program, which is run by the Ms. Foundation, is designed to enrich the connection between the workplace and the classroom.

"I wanted my daughter to see Princeton," said Flaherty, who is a member of the class of 1981. "I had my doubts that 5- and 6-year-olds would be into a museum tour, but they really are. This is the first real art museum she's been to."

About 40 youngsters whose parents or relatives work at the Wilson School took a mid-morning tour of the museum in several groups arranged according to the children's ages. The tour for 5- and 6-year-olds, led by docent Katherine Sartarelli, included an Egyptian sarcophagus, a Japanese hand scroll from the 15th or 16th century and a medieval sword made of steel from about 1350.

The youngsters also ran their fingers along a mosaic from ancient Rome depicting Daphne and Apollo, which is installed on the museum floor. After lunch, the children chose to visit either the library or the athletic fields, and then watched a chemistry demonstration. Elsewhere on campus, about 40 youngsters whose relatives work in the Office of Information Technology visited 87 Prospect Ave. to see the University's computer hub and took a walking tour of campus.

Janet Thompson, an administrative assistant at the Wilson School, took in the art museum with her granddaughter, Rebecca, who is 5.

"I thought it would be a nice thing for her to do and a nice chance for her to see where I work, which she hasn't been able to do before," Thompson said.