Why Chuck, you old flatterer, you. Garsh.... Aw shucks.... Coming from you I count it as a compliment, but I can't hold a candle to all the great work done by so many of you in SLAS and OAS in bringing astronomy to the community. We are all so fortunate to live in the golden age of astronomy. I like to think we are pursueing the theme of Carl Sagan's book, "The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark". So many adults are ill-informed about science and how we know what we know. I find astronomy useful as a tool to motivate students to want to learn more about math and science because of their innate interest in things astronomical. The fact is, we are all teachers every time we interface with the public about our passion: astronomy. I am grateful to be a part of this wonderful group. Wayne P.S. I'm still hoping the grand opening of the Northridge High School observatory will be in mid-April. Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610
Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> 03/15/09 2:53 PM >>> Friday I got the nickel tour of Wayne Sumner's very high-tech, modern classroom/lab/shop facility at Northridge High, including an impressive collection of telescopes used for teaching astronomy. Wayne teaches math, physics, astronomy, engineering, and tennis at Northridge, and if every high-school teacher had his enthusiasm and drive, we would see far more students going into these fields in college and professionally. Wayne is an asset to the local astronomical community and deserves recognition for his efforts. His enthusiasm is infectious; as he puts it, "I *GET* to teach astronomy!" accompanied by a huge grin. I wish my own daughter's school had such faculty and facilities.
Wayne, thanks again for the tour, and I hope I didn't embarrass you by calling everyone's attention to the stellar job you are doing as an educator and friend of astronomy. You journalists on the list, here's a worthy blog topic for you- give Wayne a call. _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com