After learning a veteran high school astronomy teacher will soon retire, members of the Pottsville Area school board considered ideas to continue and improve the program.
In particular, the board would like to see a bright future for the high school's Motivational Science Center, which includes a planetarium, a dome-shaped classroom designed for astronomy classes, and the observatory, a building atop the high school that includes a telescope. Both were established in 1966.
"It's a wonderful resource. We're hoping that it can still be used. We'd like to see it continue and have it more accessible to the public," Christina M. DiCello, a member of the school board, said April 22.
Thomas J. Guzick, 56, a science teacher at the high school since 1979, has used the facilities the most since he was hired. He retires June 3.
Last week, Guzick said he'd like the district to look into making the observatory a more effective teaching tool by improving the video link to the telescope to project what the telescope sees into more classrooms.
So far, only one television screen is hooked up to the telescope, and it's inside the observatory.
"If I have a group of, let's say, 70 people it would take forever for these 70 people to look through the telescope," Guzick said.
DiCello is a 1987 Pottsville Area graduate and was one of Guzick's students who is fascinated by the observatory.
At a school board workshop on April 10, she said she'd like to see if it's possible to outfit it with some 21st century applications.
"I don't know about Internet capabilities or if we'd be able to do webcasts from the observatory. For it to be effective, you have to use it at night," DiCello said.
Meanwhile, the school board is planning to hire a full-time science teacher to take Guzick's place, according to Tiffany Reedy, high school principal.
In November 1965, the "Pottsville Area School System" proposed adding a "planetarium observatory" to Pottsville Area High School using "Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act funds," according the newspaper's archives.
It was the first project of its kind in the United States, according to Alex G. Atty, the school district superintendent at the time, who was a supporter of the project. He traveled to Harrisburg to appear before a five-man review board at the Department of Public Instruction to personally ask for the funds, according to an article published in The Pottsville Republican on Jan. 13, 1966.
In a few days, Atty got the good news: the U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C., had approved $122,410 in federal ESDA funds to establish it during the 1965-66 school year, according to an article published in the newspaper Jan. 19, 1966.
It included Atty's breakdown of costs for the project: "Equipment will cost $64,210; remodeling and conversion of existing structure, estimated $30,000. Yearly budget will be $24,000: for staff, $22,500 (a director and two coordinators), $500 for administration and $1,000 for evaluation. About $2,400 will be needed for transportation of pupils."
"Through minor remodeling of existing facilities of Pottsville Area H.S., the planetarium and laboratory facilities will utilize about one-third of an existing study hall. Since the observatory dome and substructure will be located on the present roof over the auditorium, only provisions for a concrete curb, catwalk and electrical requirements are necessary," according to the Jan. 19, 1966, edition of the newspaper.
The district bought the equipment for the planetarium from Spitz Laboratories Inc., Yorklyn, Del.
In late August 1966, Atty announced the planetarium and observatory project was complete. Together, those facilities make up the district's Motivational Science Center, according to a metal dedication plaque.
"Ours was the first class to make use of the planetarium and observatory. The lectures and demonstrations by Mr. Smiley will be unforgettable," Michael Kiehner, editor-in-chief of the Class of 1967 high school yearbook, wrote in the yearbook's "Class History."
Both the planetarium and the observatory are accessible on the third floor of the high school building at North 16th Street and Elk Avenue, just through a doorway marked "Room No. 319 Planetarium," then down a hallway.
On Tuesday, Guzick gave a freshman-level concepts of science class a demonstration.
He flipped a few switches, dimmed the lights, cranked up the electric-powered Spitz projector and, with hundreds of points of light, projected images of the Milky Way galaxy on the dome-shaped ceiling.
"First off, it's fun. And the students are better able to understand something by seeing it," Guzick said.
"It's cool to see what you can't really see when you look up in the sky," Madison Sherakas, 15, a Pottsville Area freshman, said.
"We can show you constellations. This would be Leo the Lion," Guzick said, using a laser pointer to outline the pattern, a backward question mark.
Guzick doesn't have any recommendations to improve the planetarium.
"I think we have enough to use here now. Nowadays, if we were going to replace this, it would be all computerized. It's fine. And if it's not broke, don't fix it," Guzick said.
The school district still has a maintenance agreement with Spitz, and representatives come in to check the equipment in the planetarium yearly, Guzick said.
The telescope in the observatory is a Meade brand LX200 EMC. It's a reflector telescope, which uses mirrors as opposed to lenses, Guzick said.
With a computer smart drive, Guzick can find easily spot planets, moons and stars.
The telescope's viewpoint can be projected onto a 20-inch television set to allow an entire class to see what it sees at the same time, Guzick said.
But the only time Guzick can bring classes to the observatory is at night. He said it's impossible to see constellations during the daytime since the sun outshines everything.
Guzick said schools or community groups have traditionally made appointments to visit the planetarium and the observatory, and he encouraged them to continue to do so.
