Congratulations Mauna Kea scholars

 On December 20th, Mr. Silver’s STEM Capstone class were anxiously waiting for the results of the Mauna Kea Scholars program. A program that grants telescope time up on Mauna Kea. Five Hawaii high schools were chosen based on the proposals made by students, Kalani being one of the five, along with Kapolei, Nanakuli, Honokaa, and Waiakea.

Five proposals were made from Kalani: James Shigemoto and Celine Nakamura “Exploration of dark matter”, Jordayne-Lexi Drasal “Globular clusters”, Brandon Stone  “Determining the role of protoplanetary disks in exoplanet development”, Branson Jim and Derren Fung “ Red nugget galaxies”, Spencer Young “Star forming regions and how they retain their shape”, and lastly, David Higashi with “The creation of the moon”. All of the proposals were great but there were only  three winners.

Congratulations to Jordayne-Lexi Drasal, Spencer Young, and David Higashi who get to work on their proposals and have telescope time. The remaining did a fabulous job on their proposals, but they were either “too big” or “too long” to accomplish, as astronomers have already tried. Everyone in Mr. Silver’s STEM Capstone class will go on a summit tour on Mauna Kea this spring.This is a wonderful opportunity for the students to gain experience, interest, and skills all in relation to astronomy and possibly their future.

In addition, staff from the Imiloa Astronomy Center on the Big Island, held a mini presentation here at the Kalani gyn, on January 11th. The students learned about navigation through winds, birds, waves, and stars “everything has a pattern” said the woman doing the presentation. There was also a mini planetarium set up, for a short show. The presentation was very interactive and something new for the students.

This remarkable experience is something that these students will remember for the rest of their life, hopefully it will inspire and bring them future success. Good luck to the winners and have a great time on Mauna Kea.