"Thar she blows!" exclaims Jo Ann Wadkins. "It looks like a star, but it's not. It's Mars."
The physics and astronomy teacher offers students a look at the red planet through a high-powered telescope in an observatory that sits on the rooftop of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista. Only the red planet looks like a flickering white dot.
The students take turns climbing the ladder that leads to the eyepiece of the telescope. "Cool," they murmur. "So that's Mars."
Wadkins, a former Navy officer, helps her physics and astronomy students identify heavenly bodies in the night sky. Teachers, students and family members built the observatory from scratch with donations from the community.
The domed structure where students view the heavens is the only one of its kind located on a California public school site, says Wadkins. Inside, students can view the "final frontier," and also conduct research on outer space.
The observatory was finished two years ago at a cost of $60,000. For Wadkins, a Sweetwater Education Association member and former Teacher of the Year at Eastlake High, it was a "dream come true" several years in the making.
She started planning the project shortly after assuming her teaching position at Eastlake six years ago. A former lieutenant in the Navy, she has a degree in physics from Trinity University in San Antonio and spent a summer working at the McDonald Observatory.
"My goal is to teach science at many different levels and get students excited about science," says Wadkins, who has written an astronomy instruction manual for the Sweetwater Union High School District. "Astronomy is on the cutting edge of science and students love it."
Jo Ann Wadkins rolls a 350-pound telescope into position in the observatory at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista.
Wadkins solicited contributions throughout the community, and received funding from the Eastlake Educational Foundation, the Eastlake Development Co. and other sources. "The level of community involvement was exciting," says Wadkins. "Everyone was very enthusiastic." She surfed the Web at night, researching domes and telescopes. "We had to be accountable to the community. I wanted to get top-of-the-line stuff to make sure everything was going to work."
Construction took place on weekends. "Teachers, students and my husband built it," says Wadkins with pride. "It took us six months. We did everything. We framed the building. I personally did the insulation and anchor bolts. The district put in stairs leading to the roof and put in the electrical power because we had to attach a motor that makes the building turn and the door open."
The domed building sits atop the engineering building like a crown jewel, with a sweeping view of the skies. Approximately 10 by 10 feet, it holds three to four students and the teacher. The dome houses a 16-inch, 350-pound Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that magnifies objects 400 times their normal size. Filters allow students to see sunspots, hot plumes of hydrogen gas and other solar sights. There is also a smaller 8-inch portable instrument that magnifies objects 200 times their normal size, which students use outside while awaiting a turn inside the dome.
The large telescope has a computerized motion drive, with a database that can help students locate 10,000 celestial objects. "If you want to look at Jupiter, you just punch in the code, and the telescope turns automatically to Jupiter," Wadkins explains. "If there's rotation, the telescope tracks it. The motor drive tracks objects at the same speed as Earth." A digital camera is attached to the telescope.
"We plan on conducting research here," she says. "Big observatories have huge telescopes to look at things really far away. They don't spend time looking at things close to Earth. That's for amateurs, like us. For example, two amateur astronomers discovered the last comet, Hale-Bopp. I would like for my students to do research on variable stars over a long period of time. We can keep a database from year to year, and turn over the information to a national organization that collects information from amateurs all over the world. I can hardly wait to get my students involved in that." She also plans on starting a Web page devoted to the site.
The observatory is open to students about two evenings a month, and Wadkins plans to increase availability in the future. "Parents and community members want to come see it. The whole community has taken a lot of pride in it."
Students are especially proud. "It's pretty cool to know that you are the only school in California to have something like this," comments Jordan Saasta.
The observatory has attracted a cross section of students, says Wadkins. "Astronomy interests students at all levels. You don't have to be an A-plus student to be excited at seeing Saturn's rings or Jupiter's moons in motion. I love it when kids say, 'Oh my God, this is way cool.' It opens their eyes to things out of this world.
"When they look through the eyepiece and see craters and surface features of the moon, they can't believe their eyes. They start asking questions and reading things on their own. They'll say, 'I read about Neptune in the newspaper. What do you think about this?' One student went to the library and got a book to ask me questions about the universe. They are also sharing their discoveries with friends."
While she has her eyes on the stars, Wadkins has her feet firmly planted on the ground. "My goal is not to turn all my students into professional astronomers," she says. "I just want to get them excited about learning. When you get excited about one topic, it turns you on to other topics. The observatory opens up their eyes to the world around them - and all the possibilities the world has to offer."
