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Illinois School Board Journal
September/October 2004
Board boldly goes into unusual realms
by Lou Obermuefemann
Louis Obermuefemann is superintendent of Hoyleton CCSD 29 in Southern Illinois.
Who would have thought that actions taken in a warm boardroom could set teeth chattering?
But decisions by the Hoyleton CCSD 29 board did exactly that ... serving as a catalyst to take a district with fewer than 100 students into realms of education far exceeding the norm for districts even much larger. That's because in 2002, the Hoyleton board envisioned bold new strategic plans for its buildings' exterior as well as interior.
Outside, the board looked at developing the school's grounds, which had remained stagnant since 1936, with a 10-year plan for two distinct areas: outdoor education and physical education facilities. The initial focus was on outdoor education facilities; a storage barn; a year-round greenhouse with an exterior germination area; and an outdoor classroom.
But the boldest vision, by far, was for an observatory. And that's what set some teachers' teeth chattering.
In mid-January, district teachers joined astronomers from Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and the University of Chicago to explore the heavens and learn how to operate three different sizes of telescopes. Knees were shaking and teeth chattered as Jupiter's moons became visible. Gaseous nebulas provided unbelievable sights as the onlookers dodged wind gusts and snowflakes. These cold souls spent 12 to 14 hours per day learning about astronomy, telescopes and computer systems.
This adventure held multiple goals for the Hoyleton faculty. First, training was needed to fully understand the operational capabilities of the new observatory. Now operational, the observatory has become an arm of Yerkes and acts as a hub for astronomical education throughout the southern part of the state.
The year-round observatory can accommodate more than 30 people inside and several hundred at a time on the grounds. Hoyleton will offer its services to other school districts, universities and public/private organizations.
Second, contacts made during the trip will allow Hoyleton eighth-grade students the opportunity to travel to Yerkes Observatory annually for training and observation. Each student will have the opportunity to use a 24-inch telescope and take photographs with an STV CCD computer system.
Additionally, Hoyleton students will form one of seven locations worldwide to supply data to Yerkes, as well as to NASA. Hoyleton's 12-inch Meade telescope with a deluxe computer will allow students to locate, log and photograph deep space phenomena. This data, labeled with the student's name and school address, will be available on the Internet for education and research.
Finally, future participation of Hoyleton with a NASA project was initiated. NASA and DLR, the German Aerospace Center, are working together to create SOFIA, a highly modified Boeing 747SP aircraft equipped with a 2.5-meter reflecting telescope. SOFIA, which will fly above 35,000 feet and use infrared light to study the universe, will be the largest airborne observatory in the world, making observations that are impossible for even the largest and highest ground-based telescopes.
So far, the exterior strategic plan has accomplished the following:
Plans for inside
The board's interior five-year plan is designed to take facility and curriculum into areas of education not normally experienced by elementary students.
Dubbed "the pie," the initiative involves taking each designated area beyond the state and national norms ... beyond the classroom window ... through "action" activities, where students experience life in a new and exciting way.
Students will experience principles of physics as they take their first flight lessons, under the direction of a flight instructor, and fly over their school.
"Hands-on" geology involves students in the exciting adventure of spelunking. Participants, including parents, experience mother Earth 100 feet underground during a daylong excursion to a semi-wild cave.
Students learn about electricity and electronics by developing their own robot. Upon completion, they can calculate Ohms, as well as tell the function of resisters, capacitors and potentiometers.
A high-tech, cutting edge computer lab was developed during the initial year of the plan and now acts as a facility for student education as well as learning opportunities for the community and other districts.
Environmental education begins in the classroom. However, it also extends into the Cache River swamps of Southern Illinois. Students spend the day canoeing through the swamps, learning about indigenous wildlife and taking samples.
Part of the science unit involves aspects of physics, but rarely do students get the chance to experience physics via scuba. Parents and Hoyleton students join in the adventure as they don gear and explore Jacques Cousteau's underwater world of adventure.
As both strategic plans continue to develop, many will benefit. The plan includes expansion of the observatory to include use of a planetarium, which also will be available to any interested school district, as well as use of a $500 grant to purchase a laser system so that students can experience holography.
Two teachers and three substitutes will be trained to use the planetarium. Any school district in the southern part of the state may schedule a presentation for a day. Trained substitutes will pick up the planetarium and spend the day at the requesting school. This way, thousands of students will have an opportunity to observe the heavens without leaving their own back yard.
And all of the progress has been possible because of the board's visioning and strategic planning.