Journey Through the Universe Hawai‘i: Plans for 20th Anniversary
11:30 - 11:45
Co-author: Christopher Phillips, Leinani Loz
For the past 19 years, the Hawai‘i Journey Through the Universe (JTTU) program has delivered innovative, hands-on programs for Hawai‘i Island classrooms. The program originated as part of the national Journey Through the Universe program developed by NASA’s National Center for Earth and Space Education under Jeff Goldstein. Led by the International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF in a partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Education and more recently with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the program includes participants from all of the Maunakea Observatories, NASA, and dozens of local community partners. The Hawai‘i JTTU is the only remaining community hosting JTTU out of the original 14 across the US. In early 2024, the JTTU program will celebrate its 20th consecutive year with many new initiatives and concepts planned. In addition to the core program, which includes several hundred classroom presentations each year by observatory STEM professionals (and beyond), multiple STEM career panels, teacher training, and local public events. As the program enters its 3rd decade, plans include expanded community programming, the development of presentation modules, and teacher workshops aligned to Next Generation Science Standards. In this presentation, the history of JTTU in Hawai‘i will be presented, along with plans for the 20th anniversary of the program.
