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Star Gazing Science
All About Rose City Astronomers’ Sky Puppies Class
By Anne Laufe
Jeannie London, youth director for Rose City Astronomers (RCA), got into science because her two kids really enjoyed it.
“My son has liked LEGOs since he was 2,” says London, who lives in Hillsboro. Her kids are now 8 and 10, and London has enrolled them in Oregon Zoo and OMSI camps and Saturday Academy classes to support their interests.
London says she’s always had an interest in astronomy, which led her to start attending RCA meetings. When she learned that parents really wanted a separate class for kids during their monthly membership meetings, London, who has a background in education, stepped in.
Now she teaches a Sky Puppies class for RCA, as well as other astronomy classes for Saturday Academy. In Sky Puppies, kids can earn a beginning astronomer’s certificate by identifying 15 constellations and demonstrating their knowledge of other specific features of the night sky.
“You can get kids started by just going outside in the evening with a bowl of ice cream and observing the sky,” says London. “Ask them what they see. It’s hard in the city because of the light pollution, but you can still see some things, like Venus and Orion.”
If kids show an interest, London recommends taking them to one of RCA’s star parties at Rooster Rock or Stub Stewart State Park, where kids can look at the night sky through telescopes set up by volunteers, away from the lights of the city. And for those who become truly starry-eyed, OMSI offers a weekend family astronomy camp at Camp Hancock in eastern Oregon.
Anne Laufe is a Portland writer and mom.
