Laura Hockensmith Email and Phone Number

I am a museum educator with 18 years of experience. I started in the museum field in the Spring and summer of 2003 as a curatorial intern at the National Museum of the United States Navy. There, I was able to assist the education department with programs, and discovered I wanted to become a museum educator. While I finished my undergraduate degree in history from the University of California, San Diego, I worked at the San Diego Maritime Museum as an educator, assisting with overnight programs. I taught line and sail handling, sounding bilges, and cooked for the students. In 2005, I moved to Washington D.C. to accept the position at Assistant Director of Education at the National Museum of the United States Navy. There, I was responsible for all education programming, which included STEM education, providing hands-on guided tours, home school programs, and summer camps. I was also responsible for all visitor services and public affairs, including managing the docent corps, creating advertising, and running adult programs like book lectures. I was at the National Museum of the United States Navy for 11 years, moving up from Assistant Director, to eventually the Director of Education. While working, I completed my Master’s degree in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University in 2012.In 2016, I joined the team at the National Museum of the Marine Corps as the Chief of Education. When I started, the education department had one monthly program and two summer camps. In three years, we have more than doubled the interactions and attendance of school aged children from 55,000 per year to 118,000 in 2018. We also added numerous programs, to include programs for young children, home school children, science education, expanded the outreach trunk programs, and have begun distance learning programs. We also introduced social media platforms specifically geared for K-12 children, which has content based upon Virginia SOLs and Marine Corps history and science topics. In 2022, I moved to New Mexico and started as the educator at the Western Heritage Museum, and in late 2022 became the Executive Director.