Fourteen local students were selected to serve on the Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center’s first Kids’ Committee next school year. Eleven students come from six Fort Bend ISD campuses while three students are educated outside of the district, according to FBISD Communications Coordinator Keryn Miles. The committee will meet three times per year—members serve two years,—to provide input on museum exhibits and programs. They will also help test new exhibits. Elaine Holthe, the museum’s director of visitor experience, said museum officials wanted a committee similar to one at the Children’s Museum of Houston. “When we opened the museum in Sugar Land, we wanted to follow that same model so the children in the Sugar Land area can also have that same input into the future of the museum,” Holthe said. The children will test components within the exhibits to help museum staff determine if youth understand the activity, receive educational value and enjoy it overall, Holthe said. Students from FBISD on the committee are fifth-grader Reid Richter of Austin Parkway Elementary; third-graders Mahira Mathur, Mehek Mathur, and Ellie Su of Cornerstone Elementary; fifth-grader Hope Burford and fourth-grader Lillie Webster of Highlands Elementary. Third-grader HR Alexander Emanuel and fourth-grader Benjamin Castano of Schiff Elementary; fourth-grader Charlize Lopez and fifth-grader Ryan Jafri of Settlers Way Elementary; and sixth-grader Dominique Mallo of Sugar Land Middle School are also members. Fourth-grader Selah Coursey, who attends homeschool; fourth-grader Tiffany Sellers of Tom Wilson Elementary in Katy ISD and third-grader Krishna Bhadriraju of the Honor Roll School are also on the committee, according to FBISD. Members were selected based on their interest in volunteering, willingness to communicate ideas and ability to work well with a team, according to a museum announcement. Holthe said a team of community members also interviewed the students. While on the committee, the students will also serve as museum ambassadors for leadership and outreach events held throughout the county, the announcement said. The museum opened in May and features exhibits simulating an auto shop, a grocery store, a veterinary clinic and a dragon and fairy wonderland, among other installments. Holthe said the number of exhibit activities the children will test will vary, but said they could be testing an outdoor play space at the museum within two years once surrounding construction is complete. “That’ll be something I’m sure our kids committee will have some input into—what kind of different activities within these components they think will be beneficial to have in an outside play space,” she said.