It was a dark and stormy night. But that did not stop FBAC’s AOW and science night at Oyster Creek Elementary. With 300 students and parents showing up, we were kept busy from 6pm to 7:30pm. The science teacher, Nancy Brock, and her staff always do a great job of organizing and running this event.
Wayne Wiegand and Sean Carey setup telescopes indoors and pointed down a long hall at pictures of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars taped up above a door. Although Mac Hooton, assisted by his brother Rob, lost a few critical bolts to his telescope, he entertained people with his vast knowledge and sharp wit. We were positioned in a highly trafficked area and had many kids and parents look through the scopes.
Hari Rao graciously filled in for Bill Spizzirri on short notice and adapted his presentation (The Life Cycle of Stars) for elementary school kids. On advice from Jo Sutter, he added interactive material from the Night Sky Network that kids could use their phones one various slides demonstrating color spectrums which was a big hit.
Hareesh Janakiraman and I assisted with crowd control and telescope setup and tear down. We worked as a great team and the event proceeded like clockwork. When things got a little slow in the presentation room we were able to get the school staff to make an announcement which brought crowds back to the room. We did have to compete with a crocodiles, Taekwondo and many other presentations that were going on for science night.
The rain and clouds did not dampen our spirits and were lifted by the enthusiasm of the kids and parents. A big thanks to all the FBAC volunteers who attended.
