Excellent idea! It is truly a shame that so many kids grow up without ever knowing the wonders of the night sky. Best of luck on your project!

Thanks for the advice astrosci. I'm familiar with The Astro Society of the Pacific project - they are doing amazing work. As a former elementary school teacher, I 'm very familiar with all the challenges of working within the public school system. We'll be starting out with after-school and enrichment programs because they generally have much more flexibility when it comes to programming. Also, because we want to actually get kids out onto the astronomy field with telescopes and astronomers, it makes sense to frame the project as an out-of-school time initiative. That said, we do hope to get at least one solar telescope and we'll be designing a variety of activities and demonstrations that could be used with kids during the day if we decide to partner with public schools.

Tivoni, thanks for your input. The 700 word description didn't allow me to provide too many details. I agree that getting kids to a dark sky site could be a challenge. Fortunately, we're in a good position to make that happen. There are some amazing after-school and enrichment programs here in Atlanta with experience taking children outside the city for learning experiences. We also have access to a couple great dark sky sites within a couple hours of the city. Yes, they will be late nights...but that's part of the fun!

Mike - I absolutely agree! We've done some very successful sidewalk astronomy events in our urban neighborhood and we look forward to helping kids make the most of the urban sky for lunar, solar, and planetary viewing. We plan to invest in the hydogen-alpha scope you mention if we get the Ideablob award. Solar observation also has the obvious benefit of allowing us to work with kids during the day, during regular after school program hours. We see the dark sky visits as a sort of culminating event or special outing to complement the work we do with the kids in the city.

This fantastic idea should help the children understand they are part of a big wonderous universe full of possibilities. I hope others will wee the true value of this project.

This is a great idea, I do have issues with big fancy names though. Will Molly get a spacesuit as part of this grant? If not, I also have problems with that aspect.

Fabulous. Your website is fantastic - you've clearly given this project a lot of thought. As a teacher and amateur astronomer, I can say that there is a HUGE need for programs like this. Unfortunately, with NCLB urban schools have had to put science on the backburner - this would be one way to give kids the type of learning experience they should be getting in school. My kids LOVE going out to do astronomy with me - I'm not sure they'll pursue careers in science, but the experience has definitely made them more curious, creative thinkers. I only wish all kids had that kind of opportunity! Best of luck!

Great Idea! Wish you the best of luck and I think it's a wonderful thing for you to be involved in and offer to todays kids. God knows they need all the positive opportunities they can get now day's. And by the way Jessica, this comment and vote is from your Uncle Dave in Spooner, WI. Luv Ya & Good Luck!

This sounds truly amazing. I wish something like this existed when I was a kid. think the greatest part about Ideablob is seeing that SO MANY people are choosing to do such generous and selfless things things for the community. It makes me feel like no matter who wins, we all win. Best of luck!

Greenhl - Thank you for the great advice. We have a good bit of astronomy knowledge, but we'll be partnering with astronomy clubs and astronomy students and faculty at local colleges and universities as well. You are absolutely correct that quality telescopes aren't actually too expensive - that's one reason we are so excited to get started. We already have a lot of the basic equipment we need for basic observational astronomy. With a few additions, we will be able to do basic imaging as well. We're working on our business plan right now - or ultimate goal is to secure funding for a small observatory and youth astronomy center at a dark sky site. Since there are astronomers, stars, and deserving kids in every major city, we'll also be exploring the possibility of replicating the program …morenationally.

An amazing concept. Kudos to all the great educators committed to exploring opportunities for the less fortunate kids in our society. Every kids deserves a chance... best of luck!!

Ginny - Thanks for your sage advice. You are absolutely right - there is no need to reinvent the wheel here. The support and enthusiasm of the astronomy community in Atlanta is actually one of the reasons we are so motivated to get started. The fact that there are so many astronomy resources out there but still so few opportunities for kids in high-poverty communities to access them in a meaningful way is what makes our project so important to pursue. I didn't have an opportunity to detail all of the potential partnerships we will develop and the community resources we have at our disposal - but you have mentioned several of them. To get a little bit more specific - we are members of the Atlanta Astronomy Club and, as a doctoral student at Emory, I am excited about reaching out to the scie…morence and education communities there. Our program is unique in that it will bring existing resources together to provide a coherent sequence of powerful learning activities for the kids while also giving them the kind of unique astronomy experience that can only really be had by getting out under a truly dark sky with a telescope.

This is a fabulous idea. I'll be sure to come back and vote for you.

This is a great idea! I work in recreation and with after-school programs for school age youth. Your idea is a wonderful opportunity to provide educational and fun opportunities to the youth in your community. We partner with the local school district on grants to provide free after-school programs combining academic support and enrichment activities. There is always a need for more opportunities. NASA posts dates/times that the space station can be seen, scheduling a siting party would be a fun, learning experience. Good luck!

I'm joining the ranks of your enthusiasts! I love programs that get kids actively involved in science and show them that it's something they're capable of doing, not just reserved for geniuses. Anything that teaches the discipline of thinking (rather than just having opinions and expecting them to be respected, no matter what) and loving the natural world gets my vote. Thanks for thinking of this and doing all the work I know you've already done.

I'm joining the ranks of your enthusiasts! I love programs that get kids actively involved in science and show them that it's something they're capable of doing, not just reserved for geniuses. Anything that teaches the discipline of thinking (rather than just having opinions and expecting them to be respected, no matter what) and loving the natural world gets my vote. Thanks for thinking of this and doing all the work I know you've already done.

I'm joining the ranks of your enthusiasts! I love programs that get kids actively involved in science and show them that it's something they're capable of doing, not just reserved for geniuses. Anything that teaches the discipline of thinking (rather than just having opinions and expecting them to be respected, no matter what) and loving the natural world gets my vote. Thanks for thinking of this and doing all the work I know you've already done.

Sorry. Now I know: only click once! It didn't look as if it had posted . . .

That's ok - thanks for your support. I share your perspective on science learning. I (and a lot of science teachers and ed. researchers) believe that kids learn best when they can discovery scientific phenomena on their own and relate what they find to their everyday lives. The curricular materials we're looking at have some structure to make sure kids get the important content - but we'll leave plenty of room for kids to explore.

Space can change your life. Cosmic Consciousness :3

Thanks for taking the time to do this and donating your time, good luck.

Astronomy is truly the most awe inspiring natural science and it has always amazed me how people simply don't give it a second look. I hope you guys teach some kids to look at the most amazingly abundant sight we have available.

This is such a great idea. I would've loved to have had such an opportunity when I was at school. All the best :)

This is a great idea, love it! Thanks for taking the time to attempt to put together such a wonderful program!

Excellent idea, the best among the top ones here. I hope you can make a difference!

I was lucky to grow up in Hawaii near some of the most famous and powerful observatories in the world. We got to take several school trips to view the observatories, the planets and the stars. Though I didn't go into astronomy, those experiences have always stayed with me. I think this is a really cool idea and something kids would definitely be interested in.

This is a wonderful idea. I've voted for you.

Voted. I read about something like this being done in England and working really well. Best of luck!

Anything to get more of our children interested in science!

I think this is a fantastic idea, and I hope that you get to see it happen.

Good luck. Amazing idea. Really, every kid should have this opportunity regardless of where they live.

Good idea, when I was a kid, the love of astronomy encouraged me to learn math, science and even an interest in mythology (Constellations), and then on to philosophy, history, language and ultimately to a good College, Job and career. I own a telescope and I vote. Heh. Also, Good job SA!

Awesome concept. I never got an opportunity to learn about astronomy as a child, and I'd be jealous of those who could!

Learning about the universe is a humbling thing. When one takes in the vastness of the cosmos and the absolute beauty of it all it changes a person's perspective about what's really important. I think this is an absolutely tremendous idea, and by far the superior choice in this competition (not that the others are bad, this one is just that good). Teaching the youth about the universe can instill a sense of awe and wonderment, and foster a desire to learn more. Good job.

This is a really fantastic idea. A love of astronomy can lead to a love of learning in general, which can only help these kids. Best of luck!

I'm so bummed that I never had the opportunity to learn astronomy as a kid - especially with outdoor trips and tools. We just learned a few things through the most dry and boring books a 10 year old could read. This is an amazing idea! I hope you get this and that you'll be able to reach out to many many youth.

Just have to say, this is a brilliant project and it should by all emans be brought to light, everyone in their right mind should suopport something like this.

Anything that introduces those who don't have much to the possibilities that can be had with hard work is a good project. It'll give kids a chance to experience something they couldn't normally, and maybe even inspire a few future scientists. For these reasons it gets my vote.

1000 votes in a day? WOW... can I borrow YOUR marketing people?!?!?! My mother was a teacher and I have created educational television programming. Good luck on your endeavor.

What an awesome idea. Astronomy is such a beautiful area to study in the sciences. It's also very humbling, i.e. "pale blue dot". I think bringing such an interesting field of study to these kids could inspire them to go into the sciences in the future. Even if this project only inspires one person, this project is a success. Good luck, and I hope your project wins.

Congratulations, I think your idea was the most insightful. I voted for you! I hope to see your business successful in the future...

SA - Ideablob explicitly advises its competitors to reach out to online communities for support: http://www.ideablob.com/about/social_media . There are millions of people online. Some belong to SA and post in the forums. Others aren't members but browse the SA public forums. Millions of other people have never heard of SA and belong to other online communities. Any free-thinking individual on the internet could be asked, via any number of channels, to vote for any of these worthy ideas and choose to vote for the one they believed in. When you post on a forum like SA there is usually going to be some light hearted joking. There may even be forum members who express criticism for an idea. But I have gone out of my way to keep this contest respectful and fair and I have certainly not engaged…more in the type of "slander' you describe. As for the CL accusation, if you read the thread you will see that I have explicitly encouraged members of the SA community not to do anything to "bring down" a competitor. My decision to reach out to the SA community (of which I have been a member since 2005) is no different than my decision to reach out to other networks of family and friends. If you have further concerns regarding that decision, I urge you to contact me directly.

Whatever "SA_is_busted" thinks, I came to this site solely because of the post on SA. I hadn't heard of it before, and likely never would have had jhammocktfa04 not made the original post describing Epiphany. I think what she is doing is an amazing and potentially life changing thing for a lot of underprivileged kids. Nothing against the other finalists, but this one appears to be the most scientifically pure and inclusive of all of them. Truly capitalising on the old adage "Think Global, Act Local". Jhammocktfa04, congratulations on an amazing idea, and congratulations for using the power of Goons for something so positive that can have the affect of potentially altering so many children's lives.

I came here to say exactly what wombat74 said, only they said it better! This is awesome and good luck.

SA_is_busted is a troll who is clearly trying to start problems with the other competitors. The thread on Somethingawful.com is open for public viewing and anyone can go and see their accusations are completely untrue.

As a kid who grew up in city and our night sky was usually red, from the amount of smog and "light pollution", I feel very strongly that this project is needed. As an above post mention, it's a humbling experience when you see your first REAL night sky. :science: it's a beautiful thing

Edit* in THE city and Edit* mentionED Yeah....

This is great. Keep up the good work.

SA_Is_Busted, if you are ashamed to call yourself a goon then call yourself a Troll. You're far far worse than the picture you are trying to paint of jhammocktfa04. He posted a thread on SA asking for support. He cannot be held accountable for if some replies in the thread had negative opinions of some of the other contestants... he is not a moderator so how was he supposed to censor them? I assume you have some intellect so surely you can't ignore that jhammocktfa04 went out of his way and told the forums to vote fairly and be nice; so the logical conclusion is that you are just a troll trying to ruin a wonderful thing.

Best of luck to you Jessica. I hope your program reaches a lot of children. Cindy

SA_Is_Busted is a liar. Read the thread yourselves and you'll see that no slanderous comments were made. Also, read up on the difference between libel and slander. Also, truth as an absolute defense.