Striking Sparks Telescope Awards Program
2010 Striking Sparks Winners, left to right: Joseph Soares, William O’Neill, Kathryn Allen, Sarah Jane Catarozoli, Drew Johnson, and
Brycen Martz. Photo by Len Nelson
Striking Sparks
The program’s name comes from an occurrence related by one of our members: A man and his son built a telescope and this struck a “spark” of interest that contributed to the son’s ultimately graduating with a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.
Our goal is to strike other sparks of interest in Sonoma County students. This is the 25th year of the program, with 234 6-inch reflector telescopes awarded to Sonoma County students. Winners automatically become members of SCAS for a full year, receive our monthly newsletter Sonoma Skies, and the Astronomical League's quarterly publication, Reflector.
Applicants must:
- Be a Sonoma County student in first through eighth grade
- Attend one or more SCAS meetings or the Robert Ferguson Observatory so we can meet you
- Be nominated by your teacher or by SCAS members
- Write an essay about your interest in astronomy
To get the ball rolling, students, parents and teachers are encouraged to obtain an entry packet here:
Striking Sparks Entry Packet. You will need Adobe Reader to open it.
Sponsorship
There is an opportunity for you or your organization to sponsor a telescope and participate in this worthwhile program. The cost to sponsor a “Striking Sparks” telescope is $250. Contact Larry McCune, Striking Sparks Coordinator, at: llmccune@comcast.net
Spring 2010 Awards
The Striking Sparks awards celebration on March 10 started with a “flash.”
Our planned 7:30 start time was delayed to get outside to see an exceptionally well-timed -8 magnitude Iridium Flare at 7:32. It went like a well-practiced fire drill...no pushing, shoving and no screams of terror were voiced, and before we knew it we were all outside about 90 seconds before the event was to occur. Green lasers cut through the sky in the direction the event was expected. We waited impatiently...and then it began. Dim at first but brightening rather quickly. After the oh’s and ah’s we returned to the multipurpose room to begin our 2010 Sparks Celebration!
With the six telescopes awarded that evening, 234 telescopes have been awarded to deserving Sonoma County students. The applause was deafening!
SCAS Treasurer and Striking Sparks Coordinator Larry McCune told the history of Striking Sparks—that it started with hand-built telescopes in the Petaluma garage of Robert Ferguson. Bob’s vision of Striking Sparks was to stimulate an interest in science and astronomy in the minds of Sonoma County students. The first telescopes were constructed with hand-ground and polished mirrors, plumbing parts and scrap materials. Many of the SCAS members pitched in to build the first 200 telescopes. Now we obtain the telescopes from Orion Telescopes and Binoculars in Cupertino.
Winners and Sponsors:
Joseph Soares, 5th grade St. Vincent dePaul Elementary. Teacher: Christiann Giacometti. Sponsor: Hiren Shah Family—a previous Striking Sparks winner
William O’Neill, 6th grade, St. Vincent de Paul Elementary. Teacher: Christiann Giacometti. Sponsor: Rob Koslowsky
Kathryn Allen, 8th grade, St. Rose School. Teacher: Dave Laurice. Sponsor: Linda and Norman Mahan
Drew Johnson, 5th grade, Grant Elementary. Teacher: Leslie Ihrig. Sponsor: San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
Sarah Jane Catarozoli, 5th grade, Valley Vista Elementary School. Teacher: Scott Granger. Sponsor: Astronomical Association of Northern California represented by Kenneth Frank
Brycen Martz, 5th grade, California Academy at Sonoma. Teacher, Allison Glynn-Wilson. Sponsor for the tenth year: Frank Hejtmanek Annual Fund
Left to right: Teacher Christann Giacometti, sponsor Hiren Shah, winner Joseph Soares, winner William O’Neill, sponsor Rob Koslowsky, Sponsor Linda Mahan, winner Kathryn Allen, sponsor Norman Mahan, teacher Scott Granger, winner Sarah Jane Catarozoli, sponsor Kenneth Frank, teacher Leslie Ihrig, sponsor Al Stern, winner Drew Jonnson, teacher Allison Glenn-Wilson and winner Brycen Martz. Photo by Len Nelson.
We really appreciate the role teachers played in nominating students, evaluating their essays and joining us at this event. We could not do the program without teacher support. We also want to thank the sponsors and Scope City and Orion Telescopes for their generous contributions.
After the awards we moved the telescopes to the parking lot. It was a beautiful and clear evening. Orion stood before us, the Pleiades to our west, Mars overhead and then Saturn was caught climbing the eastern sky. The first light for the telescopes was a great experience for our new Striking Sparks families.
Our 25th Striking Sparks celebration became history.
Page last updated July 30, 2010