Thanks to the generosity of the Japan Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy, Hawaii Island schoolchildren will enjoy greater access to educational experiences at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in 2016.
Thanks to the generosity of the Japan Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy, Hawaii Island schoolchildren will enjoy greater access to educational experiences at the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in 2016.
Earlier this month, the foundation, through Subaru Telescope, awarded a grant of $7,200 to ‘Imiloa for its school field trip program, with the funds designated to help support round-trip transportation costs for schools outside Hilo.
During the 2014-15 school year, ‘Imiloa hosted a total of 11,290 students, teachers and chaperones on 266 different curriculum-related field trips — the equivalent of more than one on-site field trip each weekday ‘Imiloa was open. The majority of the visiting groups, 53 percent, were elementary school students, with 16 percent from intermediate school and 21 percent from high school.
Slightly more than half of all student visitors came from Hawaii Island schools, with the remainder traveling to Hilo from the Neighbor Islands, mainland and other countries.
“We feel a very special responsibility to ensure broad access to our programming for local students and schools here on Hawaii Island,” said ‘Imiloa Executive Director Ka‘iu Kimura. “We are very grateful to the JFPA and Subaru Telescope for this vote of confidence in our programming.”
‘Imiloa’s signature field trips are customized in consultation with the organizing teacher to meet the needs of the grade level and include content that directly supported the curriculum unit which the students were studying.
Each class is offered a choice of shows in ‘Imiloa’s full-dome 3-D digital planetarium, along with hands-on experiences in its interactive exhibit hall and native gardens. At the end of the two-hour field trip, students receive curriculum worksheets to take back and complete in class.
In the past 15 years, the Japan Foundation for Promotion of Astronomy has awarded more than $132,000 in grants to UH-Hilo to support initiatives that foster education about astronomy in the local community. These have included the creation of exhibits and planetarium shows at ‘Imiloa, the construction of a traditional Hawaiian voyaging canoe and scholarships for students participating in Camp ‘IMI-Possible.
To support field trips for local students, call ‘Imiloa at 932-8921 or make a gift online at www.uhfoundation.org/ImiloaFieldTrip. To arrange a field trip, visit www.imiloahawaii.org/88/school-field-trips.