Morgan Academy’s interior glows with light, as its students begin arriving to sign in for the “Night Under the Stars.” Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — “Now it’s time to share your fact! This is Mr. Jeremy, and he’s the one you remembered your fact for,” introduced Morgan Academy science teacher Valerie Stevens to her students and their families on Friday night, as night fell in her outdoor classroom by the school building. The special guest, Jeremy Gaulke, was part of a group of volunteers from the TriState Astronomers organization who came to share their love for astronomy with the event’s attendees, through a mixture of age-appropriate lectures and telescope demonstrations.

According to TriState Astronomers Outreach Officer Dan Kaminsky, this was the first time the organization of amateur astronomy enthusiasts had been invited to Morgan Academy, but hopefully far from the last.

“This is our first time here, but we’ve been doing outreach since 1985. Prior to 2019, we were doing about 45 events each year, and reaching about 5,000-6,000 guests each year. But then the pandemic happened, and then we were down to about 50 guests for the year and maybe one event!” Kaminsky said, referring to the COVID-19 Pandemic. “But now we’re starting to get back to the way things were, with more outreach events.”

According to Kaminsky, the organization has had about 10 outreach events so far this year, with 11 scheduled to take place during the remainder of the year. These events require careful preparation, as having a clear sky for viewing the celestial bodies — as was the case on Friday for Morgan Academy’s “Night Under the Stars” — is not always possible.

“If it’s cloudy and we have to be somewhere, we’ll do some educational stuff. So, it’s a roundabout thing. We not only do nighttime stuff, but we also do daytime stuff — we do solar observing, during the daytime,” Kaminsky said, before mentioning the group can regularly be seen sharing their passion for astronomy at the annual Boonesborough Days celebration in Maryland, telescopes in hand.

Morgan Academy science teacher Valerie Stevens introduces TriState Astronomers member David Harrelson to a room full of students and their families at Morgan Academy on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston

Along with Gaulke, one other TriState Astronomers member, David Harrelson, was also happily giving lectures to Morgan Academy’s preschool through middle school students.

“From this event, I hope the students will develop an appreciation for the nighttime sky and some time off of their cellphones! Although, we’re also going to mention things you can put on your cellphones, to help you enjoy what’s up there — they are software applications that are commonly used by astronomers,” Harrelson said.

The five TriSTate Astronomers members at the event brought along four of their portable telescopes, although they noted that owning a telescope is not a requirement for joining their organization — the only requirement being an interest in astronomy — as the organization itself has a few it’s able to lend to its members.

Based upon the immediate, positive response from her students in the form of over half of them registering for the event, Stevens said she was hopeful to see her classes develop a deeper interest in science than they previously possessed, as a result of the event. A total of 57 students registered for the event, and with their families, coming to a total of over 120 attendees — and that didn’t even include those who showed up because they wanted to come, even though they forgot to register.

TriState Astronomers member Jeremy Gaulke listens to astronomy facts from Morgan Academy students at the academy on Friday night. Tabitha Johnston