CSAAPT, AAPT-SEPS, NJAAPT Spring 2026 Joint Semi-Virtual Meeting

A Week-Long Astronomy Camp for Secondary School Students

Apr 18, 2026, 3:30 PM

15m

University of Delaware, Sharp Laboratory

Talk (15 min) Room 103 (Parallel B)

Speaker

Deborah Skapik (Friends' Central School)

Description

Friends' Central School is a Quaker N-12 day school just outside Philadelphia city limits. In 2025, we introduced the practice of week-long non-credit, elective courses for 9-11th grade students to take place at the end of the school year: "May Term." This presentation will describe activities in our inaugural year of a Backyard Astronomy camp as well as plans for the second year. We believe this is a good way to give students a taste for hands-on astronomy, exposing limitations due to light pollution as well as what,for some, might be their first experience under dark skies.