October 30th, 2019 kicked off the fourth “Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop” in collaboration with the University of Hawaii Hilo Masters of Arts in Teaching program. The “Maunakea Wonders Teacher Workshop” program gives participants a background on the existing Maunakea Observatories, the scientific discoveries being made, the engineering/instrumentation capabilities, the jobs and career paths available to our island’s students, and our Education and Public Outreach efforts. EAO staff had a great time talking story with the students and sharing hands-on activities that they can take back to their own classrooms. A big mahalo to Alyssa from Gemini Observatory for giving an ‘out of this world’ demonstration on how to use the portable starlab planetarium for many different lessons and age ranges. On Saturday, November 2nd participants had a fantastic time at the Imiloa Astronomy Center where they were treated to a custom planetarium show, a special cultural presentation with Kumu Leilehua Yuen, and a Maunakea Resource presentation by the Office of Maunakea Management. On our final day in the classroom, November 13th, Senior Scientist Steve Mairs had us recreating the scale of our solar system with a golf ball. Telescope System Specialist Miriam Fuchs got us to do a dance battle between gravity and fusion. Our panel of five EAO/JCMT employees shared stories and experiences that set them on their career path. It’s been a fantastic workshop and we’ve had a blast connecting with these passionate soon-to-be teachers.
