An exciting end to 2013!

This year has been one amazing journey!  We kicked off Feeling the Stars (we've run the program an average of once a month now since it premiered, with more bookings in place already for next year!), the program has gained interest in other states, and best of all, a new audience of kids have been inspired to seek careers in Space Science!


I'm excited to share a couple more things that have happened this month to close out the year on a very happy note.  First and foremost, Lighthouse for the Blind Saint Louis has generously given us more money to begin tactling Phase II of Feeling the Stars.  Phase II will enable us to reach a larger portion of our audience who may be blind or have low vision.  We will be able to purchase tactile Astronomy books that can be used with our shows or by visitors before and after the shows.  We will also be able to create a Braille exhibit guide and audio tour that visitors will be able to use to help them explore the exhibits more independantly as well as gain a more meaningful experience through detailed descriptions.  These guides will start in the Planetarium, but they will eventually branch out to the other galleries in the entire Saint Louis Science Center!  Once again, the generosity of LHB Saint Louis has been just phenominal!  I cannot thank them enough for their kindness and support and excitement over the last two years!  


We also got to run Feeling the Stars for The Little Star That Could for our first family that was not part of a school group.  The little boy was SO enthusiastic about space, and he very much wants to become an astronaut one day.  It was very cool to work with Jacob* and his family (including an eager little sister who wanted to do everything her big brother did).  The children were incredibly smart and the family seemed very appreciative that the experience existed.  It was quite different working with just one family.  It enabled me to allow each child to hold both Big Daddy and Mr. Angry Blue-White Star at the same time and then Little Star immediately afterwards to gain a true appreciation of the difference in temperatures.  I got to talk more one-on-one with the kids as well which was cool.  Jacob has a little vision so he used one of our iPads to watch the show which his mother said worked well for him.  Jacob's sister, used one of the tactile follow-along books so she could have something as well (Jacob's sister has sight).  Each child also hung on to one of the plush characters during the show as well.  I was happy to hear that they are going to try to find more for Jacob and his siblings to do that will help him have more meaningful experiences back home in their own museums.  I hope they are able to find the interactions they need back home and that we might be visited by the family again here in the future.  A big thank you to Jacob and his family for spending so much time with us here in the Planetarium and working with us!



Finally, Little Star and I would like to thank you all for your support.  Hearing from you is inspiring!  We wish you all the best in 2014!

Little Star says "Thank you and Happy New Year!" from outside the Planetarium on the last day of the Planetarium's 50th Anniversary Year

*Names have been changed to protect privacy 

Double the groups, double the fun!

The Saint Louis Society was back today with a lot more kids to explore the Science Center.  They came in two groups to experience the Feeling the Stars program.  I was excited to see so many new and eager faces as well as a couple I met the last time in each group today.

I had several kids who eagerly volunteered knowledge of what average meant (and who explained it more succinctly than I did in one case).  It was really cool to get to work with all these kids and most of them enjoyed the show at least "a little bit" (kids are very honest and to the point which is fantastic because they do not hesitate to tell me what they do and do not like).  Many of the kids however also said they very much enjoyed the program and the show.

Devon* was back as well for the show.  I met Devon the first time the Saint Louis Society came and was excited to hear he wanted to use one of the tactile books again.  As soon as I handed him the book he immediately opened it and started reading it aloud again.  After the show I was very excited to hear him singing loudly about stars.  I hope he and the rest of the kids will continue to come back and see us in the future again.  

I love that I have the opportunity to work with so many visitor who are so passionate about Space Science, and I truly hope that I will continue to see these kids in the future at the Planetarium!




*Names have been changed to protect privacy