2003 Students Program

Some Student Photos:
	Ken hard at work	Kids at fun	Kids at fun 2	Astro Artists

This year's Student Program was very well attended and the kids (and adults) had a great time. Girl Scout Troop 1865, under the tremendous leadership of Alice Few, was on hand to help with the Student Activities and provided some great programs for the kids. As always, they were awesome!

The mornings started off with a nature walk to learn about the geological features of the area and to search for geodes. Thursday's nature/geological walk was provided by John Benham, a geologist from Spokane and TMSP Board member. Armed with geological picks ("G-picks") and safety glasses the kids banged away and found cristobalite samples. The kids also had a lesson from the Girl Scouts on "How to Read a Map". They were sent on a treasure hunt to find various objects and people based on a map of the TMSP site area. On Friday and Saturday, Linda Khandro, a geologist from the University of Washington and Project Astro instructor, served as our guide.

On Saturday, we took a group to a site near Honey Meadows and found an area rich in basalt and silica quartz bubble-shaped (botryoidally crystal habit) cristobalite specimens as Linda would call it. The kids and adults found more than they could carry back. Next year we are planning to expand our geological and rock hunting expedition by combining this portion of the Student Program with the Adult Speaker's Program. While the kids are learning about how semi-precious stones are made, a geologist will tell the adults about the geological features of the area. Following the tent presentations, both the adults and kids will go on a joint rock expedition.

Also on Saturday morning, Erin Flood, a talented young artist and the Girl Scouts did free face painting for the kids!

The afternoons were filled with scientific arts and crafts. On Thursday we made glow in the dark constellation mobiles and planispheres. On Friday, we made stomp rockets and LED red lights. A stomp rocket competition was held on Saturday afternoon. We had an open division for "big kids" (adults) to make and fly their own rockets.

The kids also participated in the Big Bang Run on Thursday, and Cosmic Constellations on Friday. The Student Raffle was a great event thanks to the generosity of the Site Vendors. The Student Grand prize was an 8 inch Dobson. All of the evenings were filled with Astro Bingo and movie night.

All in all, it was a fun filled three days! Kids who had attended previous TMSP Star Parties re-established their friendships and met new friends. Parents are always welcome and enjoyed making projects with their kids. We also had tremendous help from many volunteers. Next year we will build on our successes of this year, and plan for an even better Student Program! The days were busy, but fun!

I am always looking for new activities to put together for the kids. For example, one thought is to have a Dobsonian kit brought up to the Mountain for kids to assemble and have first light on the Mountain. The newly built telescope would be an additional prize for the Student Raffle. Or, if kids (or adults) wanted to build their own telescope on the Mountain, they could pre-purchase a kit and we would make arrangements to have the tools and personnel on hand to help them assemble the scope. Because it takes too long to grind a mirror, we would use mirrors that are ready to be used. So, if you are interested in this as a project, please let me know as we would only undertake this project if we have people pre-register for this project.

Thank you to all the kids, volunteers and adults who participated this year. You guys were awesome. I'm looking forward to next year!

Please send me an e-mail if you have any thoughts or comments about the Student Program.