Are you a teacher or principal in a Victoria area school
who wishes to take advantage of the Victoria Centre's School Telescope Program? Please fill in the appropriate pdf form below and send
it to Sid Sidhu (contact info on the forms):
Need more info? Please read the information below,
and contact Sid Sidhu (250) 391-0540
Please note: these programs are offered in the English language only.
|
A Summary of Victoria Centre's School Telescope Program
In early 1996 at a council meeting of the Victoria Centre, a motion was
passed to initiate the Victoria Centre's "School Telescope Program" under the
leadership of Sid Sidhu. The intent was to provide an opportunity for school age
children to look through a telescope and enjoy the wonders of the night sky.
The program involved making a 15 cm Dobsonian telescope to be borrowed by
Elementary School in School District #61. In August 1996 a letter was sent to
the Elementary Schools of District #61, with McKenzie Elementary being the first
to borrow a telescope in September.
The first year, eleven schools used the only telescope available for loan.
However slowly the word spread to other school districts, which necessitated the
building of two more 15 cm Dobsonian telescopes. In 1998 a Celestron C-8 with
clock drives was donated to the Centre with the provision that it be used as
part of the School Telescope Program. Now there are three Dobs for the
elementary schools, one for each school district (SD#61, SD#62, SD#63) and one
C-8 to be shared by High Schools in all three school districts.
The program has
slightly changed from the first year of simply offering the use of a telescope,
to include slide presentations in the classrooms and facilitating night sky
viewing for the students, teachers and parents. The program now reaches almost 1,500 to 2,000 students a year. The Centre's
group of volunteers has also increased correspondingly, often getting help from
the students at Pearson College. Without the volunteers, the program would not
have been such a success.
The ongoing management of the program consists of:
- Phoning the teachers who had previously used the program.
- Sending introductory faxes and emails to the other schools in the three
School Districts.
- Scheduling the lending of telescopes, classroom visitations, and the night
sky viewing sessions.
- Liaison with Pearson College.
- Maintaining the quality of the telescopes on a monthly basis.
- Finally, getting enough volunteers for the night sky viewing sessions.
Many thanks go to the volunteers.
Please contribute your time and expertise.
Cheers.
Clear & Dark Skies.
Sid Sidhu
(250) 391-0540
