FAQ: BPAA’s “Reach for the Stars” STEAM Fund

Has this kind of effort been successful with any other amateur astronomy association? 

There are very few publicly accessible observatories that offer programs to school-age youth. BPAA has been providing programs to school groups and school-age children since around 2016 with a hiatus during Covid. Since starting up again after Covid, we have been considering how to fund this program more sustainably. We are starting with donations and if successful will turn to requests for larger foundation grants.

Is there a proven program model that the BPAA will follow? Will citizen science play a role?

We at BPAA already have a proven model of demand for our programs, run by just a few volunteers. Recognizing this demand, we are now building a more direct connection with educators at Kitsap schools to advise us formally on program offerings. This STEAM fund will pay for BPAA staffing to ensure the programs can be offered to schools for free and on a regular basis without depending solely on volunteer availability. If we can get kids excited about science we hope to introduce them to existing local citizen science programs. 

What existing BPAA programs can be utilized? What new programs/equipment/facilities will be needed?

BPAA has developed several programs that are in demand by schools and the public. These include:

    • Planetarium shows at the observatory with our new Digitalis planetarium projector including several 20 - 30 minute full-dome movies.
    • We offer a variety of planetarium programs, both scripted and ad-hoc, where students can engage in topics customized to STEAM curriculum.
    • Our planetarium projector is portable and can be set up in school gymnasiums or similar large spaces when paired with our traveling planetarium dome. 
    • We also offer opportunities for kids to work directly with telescopes including the StarBlast telescopes you so kindly donated. They will begin to learn their way around the sky and experience the excitement of discovery. 

Our immediate plans for this year envision broadening the availability of the programs we already have, with our existing facilities and equipment. 2025 will be a year of discovering more of what the community wants and what we are capable of delivering. In subsequent years we will expand to meet the demand. It’s even possible that we will outgrow the Helix House and need to look for additional space. We will certainly need to purchase licenses for additional full-dome planetarium programming, beyond what we are able to create for ourselves.

In addition to our planetarium capabilities, we are nearing completion of a major upgrade of our rooftop dome and the telescope it houses, funded by individual donations and a grant from the Bainbridge Island Rotary Club. We have two new professional-grade telescopes (one purchased and one donated) and a number of donated high-end amateur instruments that will begin coming on line this spring. These scopes will be computer-controlled and equipped for visual observing and astrophotography; as demand for their use increases, we will need to acquire additional equipment including eyepieces, cameras, computers, and perhaps even a spectrograph. There are a multitude of citizen-science opportunities for utilizing equipment of this caliber by motivated young amateur astronomers.     

Does the BPAA have someone dedicated to coordinating the initiative?  

This initiative will help fund two existing BPAA folks: The BPAA Planetarium Manager is currently a volunteer. We would like to establish this as a paid position. 

BPAA's only current paid staff is our Communications Manager. This is a half-time position responsible for community outreach and program promotion, website maintenance, administration, and supporting the Board. This position would be funded full-time to add volunteer management and increase coordination with schools and advisory groups.

The “A” in our STEAM initiative will be guided by Deborah J. Milton, a local artist and BPAA’s first Artist in Residence. You can learn more about Deborah and her work on our home page. Deborah will be at our Cosmic Countdown event on December 21, 1-4pm, at the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN). 

What's the timeline for the initiative to be ready for participation by students? What grade levels/ages? 

We hope to begin offering free programs to schools starting this spring and ramp up fully by the fall of 2025. Most of the demand we’ve seen is from grade school classes, middle school classes, and Scouts. We are just beginning to collaborate with a small group of Hyla High School students (and their faculty advisor) who have formed an astronomy club. We also are setting up a collaboration with the Park District to offer astronomy classes to the public through their summer catalog.  

What are the annual costs to maintain the effort after the first year? How will it be sustained?

We have a budget of $50,000 for the first year and $100k the second year and hope to get a Murdock Grant at that time to help move us to $150k a year with a 5% escalation per year into the future, funding 3 full to part-time staff sustainably. These staff will manage volunteers for BPAA school and public programs, coordinate a science advisory panel, grow our relationship with Kitsap Schools, and facilitate a STEAM education advisory panel.