This award supports the bi-annual teacher workshop of the Lowell Educational Astronomy Program (LEAP). LEAP is a science enrichment and outreach program for 5th-8th grade Navajo and Hopi children and their teachers. The program pairs astronomers with teachers for one year. The astronomer visits the classroom throughout the year, leading astronomy discussions and hands-on activities in collaboration with the teacher. The astronomer also holds star parties at the school and involves tribal educators in presenting traditional astronomical knowledge. The year-long partnership culminates in a field trip to Lowell Observatory in which the students visit the Observatory's Steele Visitor Center during the day and observe on two research telescopes at night.
LEAP ---Lowell Educational Astronomy Program--- is a science enrichment and outreach program for 5th--8th grade Navajo and Hopi teachers and their classes run by Lowell Observatory. The program pairs astronomers with teachers for one year. The astronomer visits the classroom throughout the year, leading astronomy discussions and hands-on activities in collaboration with the teacher. The astronomer also holds star parties at the school and involves tribal educators in presenting traditional astronomical knowledge. The year-long partnership culminates in a field trip to Lowell Observatory in which the students visit the Observatory's Steele Visitor Center during the day and observe on two of our research telescopes at night. Over the past 18 years, LEAP has worked with 75 5th-8th grade teachers at Navajo and Hopi Nation schools. There are several components of our program that make it unique. One key aspect is our willingness to drive long distances to get to remote schools. The schools we work with are located a 1--5 hour drive from Flagstaff, and a major part of a classroom visit is just getting there. Another key component of our program is that we provide all of the materials. Schools on the Hopi and Navajo Nations vary considerably, but many do not have funds for supplies so that the students can do hands-on activities. Furthermore, the nearest grocery store can be a long drive away, and obtaining supplies can be discouraging. Another key aspect of our program is that, although we also work with the students, we are primarily working with the teachers, and our efforts are aimed at teacher training. In that way our program has an impact far beyond the students we work with that year. The tri-annual teacher workshop is a major part of that training. In addition, each teacher is invited to bring a colleague from their school. Thus, more teachers are reached than participate directly in the program and classroom visits. The teachers learn about activities that they can do in their classrooms and enhance their understanding of astronomy. Furthermore, the teachers go away energized and excited to bring astronomy to their classrooms. We held our 1.5-day tri-annual workshop this year November 15-16, 2013. We invited the teachers we are partnering with this year and those we partnered with in previous years but who had not yet attended one of our workshops. We invited each teacher to bring with them a colleague from their school, and some did so. In all we had 14 teachers attend from 9 schools. (A 15th teacher signed up but did not show up). Four schools were Hopi Nation schools, 4 were Navajo schools, and one has a mixed population of Navajo and Hopi students. The location of the schools ranged from Shiprock, New Mexico, a 5-hr drive from Flagstaff, to Cameron, Arizona, only a 1-hr drive away. All of the teachers are Navajo or Hopi. We provided each teacher with all of the materials for all of the activities that we presented so that they could go home, walk into their classroom, and do any of the activities from the workshop. Thus, each teacher took home a big box and bucket of materials, carefully labeled and organized. We also provided each with a Galileoscope and tripod. Assembling the materials was a major part of the effort of putting on the workshop. However, we feel that this was essential to maximize the chances that the activities would be done in the classrooms.
