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I was ten years old. My sister's 6th grade teacher, Mr. Leak, had invited his students and their families to a star party in the back corner of our school's blacktop playground. It was a warm spring evening and the stars vividly twinkled. I approached the large telescope and small eyepiece tentatively. I wasn't sure where to look or how to effectively hold one eye closed. I bobbed my head from side to side, squinting, as I peered through the small opening. My breath caught. Behold! A yellow hued Saturn, complete with rings, came into focus. I could hardly believe my eyes. I stepped back and looked up into the inky night sky pierced by dots of light. I moved in closer to look again. An amateur astronomer was born.
If you have never had the opportunity to take a closer look at a planet, deep sky object, or binary star through a telescope, then I must say you are missing something spectacular. If you have, you may recognize the feeling I felt as a child looking through a telescope for the first time. There's something magnificent about feeling so small and insignificant in the Universe. There's something mystical and inspiring about about seeing celestial objects with your own eyes.
"Space is for everybody. It's not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That's our new frontier out there, and it's everybody's business to know about space."— Christa McAuliffe, Teacher and Challenger Astronaut
Having taught science for the past sixteen years, I've tried to stoke the fire that Mr. Leak unwittingly sparked that spring evening so very long ago. I taught myself how to maneuver an old, but working eight inch Cassegrain-Schmidt refractor with a computerized remote and then fell in love with a manual 10 inch Dobsonian reflector. I've spent countless hours staring at the constellations, star hopping, and mirror aligning in order to see the next deep sky object on my bucket list. All in the name of science....or students...or maybe just for fun? I can't decide because in the end, they all seem the same to me. What I find most peculiar about this passion for amateaur astronomy is that I would have never known how much I enjoyed it unless someone had taken the time to show me.
"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."— Stephen Hawking, Astrophysicist
Humans have an innate curiosity that extends far into the heavens and when you can leverage that to awaken the sleepiest of students, you can change the course of their life. It is in these instances that new passions, hobbies, interests, and career paths are found. So, to teachers out there seeking to ignite their students' interest, I say charge ahead to that final frontier. For you and your students it may not be the night sky, but a nearby stream, a symphony, or plethora of other adventures waiting to be shared. Take a risk, move beyond your classroom walls and, if only for an evening, watch your students burn ever so bright with excitement. Who knows where you'll be swept off to!
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings