Franklin Institute
Rachel Castro-Diephouse is the Manager of Curriculum Resources at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has worked in the field of informal science education for over ten years as an educator, curriculum developer, and trainer. Her curriculum development work focuses on creating engaging, hands-on STEM learning experiences for children in informal settings, including museums, libraries, and out-of-school-time (OST) programs. As part of the Institute’s professional development team, Rachel also trains both formal and informal educators in inquiry-based learning strategies, STEM activity development, and the science of the brain and learning. Rachel has developed and led programming for several projects focused on early childhood STEM and literacy learning and family engagement, including The Franklin Institute’s Grow Up Great with Science, Words At Play, and Family Science Storytime initiatives. She is currently the lead curriculum developer for the NSF-funded Leap into Science project, a nationally disseminated program for young children and families that integrates open-ended science activities with children’s books.
Favorite children’s book: The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.
“Because it models how to deal with frustration and failure during any creative/development/engineering process—and because the girl in the story reminds me so much of myself!”