[sac-board] Re: Letter to Phoenix Union High School District...
- From: "SkyWatcher" <skywatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2013 10:21:40 -0700
Good Morning,
This is Tony LaConte...I do many stargazing and planetarium programs for
school throughout all of Arizona.
This outreach effort is a great idea....but as Rick pointed out there are
some issues that need to be thought out.
I have a State issued fingerprint card as I work with many students.
There are issues about one-on-one contact with children that need to be
looked at.
When we do stargazing or planetarium programs there are always other adults
with the us and the students.....we are NEVER one-on-one with the
students!!!
The Grand Canyon Boy Scout Council offers Youth Protection training
online......I am a certified Astronomy Merit Badge Counselor.
https://myscouting.scouting.org/_layouts/MyScouting/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f
_layouts%2fAuthenticate.aspx%3fSource%3d%252f&Source=%2f
This training (about 35 minutes) is a good starting point for your group to
think about.
You do not need to be in scouting to create an account and do the training.
Let me know if there is anything I can help you with this outreach effort.
Thank you,
Tony La Conte
Professional Stargazer
JPL/NASA Solar System Ambassador
Tony@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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-----Original Message-----
From: sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:sac-board-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Rotramel, Rick (AZ77)
Sent: Friday, April 05, 2013 9:09 AM
To: sac-board@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [sac-board] Re: Letter to Phoenix Union High School District...
Board,
I am very concerned about the liability factor involved with high school
aged students attending our star parties way out in the desert. Please
consider all the risks associated with the club. I don't mean to rain on
your parade, but all this stuff should be thought about very seriously.
Like, how are these students going to travel out to the desert. Will they be
alone or accompanied by an adult? This also brings up stuff like "possible"
accusations if something were to go very wrong at one of these outings.
Please consider all the possibilities of what we are getting into here.
Also, about inviting entire school districts to our monthly meetings. What
will we do if suddenly 459 or so show up for a meeting?
Thanks for listening.
Rick R.
SAC
Additionally, we try to get out TO observing OBSERVE with our telescopes
twice a month--on weekends near the new Moon and the 3rd quarter Moon which
sets early. (The Moon makes the sky very bright and difficult to observe
objects such as galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae.) We are currently
driving 60-100 miles away from the city to get some distance away from light
pollution. STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO GO TO THESE STAR PARTIES WHETHER THEY
HAVE A TELESCOPE OR NOT AS OUR MEMBERS WILL GLADLY SHARE THEIR INSTRUMENTS
WITH STUDENTS.
One of our members chairs a novice group with an invitation to his
observatory in Maricopa for help on operating a telescope, how to locate
objects, etc. Also, schools, scouting programs, etc. can request our
astronomers to bring telescopes to an event; and we've hosted Thunderbird
Park's annual star party for more than 25 years.
Jennifer Polakis, VP
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