Story & photo by Stephanie Tumampos | Special to the BusinessMirror
IT was 7:30 in the evening. Around 80 high-school students gathered around the two telescopes installed on the quadrangle of Catarman High School in Catarman, Camiguin. They were excited to see the full moon rising above Mount Timpoong and Hibok-Hibok in a November sky.
For some, it was their first time to look the sky through a telescope, and for most of them, it was their first time to see the moon up close.
Thanks to the efforts of Kilaha Foundation of Camiguin, a non-governmental organization that is based and operates in Camiguin, the students experienced and appreciated the night sky through the organization’s school-to-school after-class seminar about the universe called the Camiguin Nightscapes project.
Learning
Kilaha means “learning” based on the oldest language of the Camiguin people. “Kilaha is an organization with the goal of preserving the island of Camiguin and advocate new ways to promote the island. With that in mind, we came up with the nightscape project,” Andres Lluch Narros, president of Kilaha Foundation said.
Narros is from Barcelona, Spain, and came to Camiguin in 2011 for his thesis in his doctoral studies in anthropological development in University of Barcelona. He eventually stayed on the island with his Kilaha team composed of locals and expatriates to help the local community preserve its culture and environment.
With the help of the provincial government of Camiguin and the local offices of departments of Education (DepEd), Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR), and of Science and Technology, Kilaha targeted 6,000 students to inculcate in them the importance of the night sky, balance of the natural environment and climate-change. The organization also aims to develop and build a nightscape park for stargazing not only for students but also for tourists.
“We started with a seminar last summer given by the people from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Kilaha invited them to teach us astronomy,” said Roselyn Jurial, Science Division in-charge at DepEd Camiguin.
Spanish astronomer
She added that Kilaha invited astronomer Dr. David Pino from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, to teach them in-depth lessons in astronomy and climate-change for three weeks in August.
“Around 30 teachers attended Pino’s seminar. They were applicants who were qualified to teach, and were screened before they were chosen,” Jurial said.
School-to-school campaign
On September 2015 Kilaha and the astronomy-trained science teachers started and launched the school-to-school campaign almost every night at different schools.
“We already have reached more than a thousand out of our target of 6,000 students,” Narros said.
The school-to-school campaign starts with an outdoor lecture about the universe and the solar system by the science teacher using a projector and a tablet installed with an astronomy-based application. They “travel in the space” to each planet and components of the solar system.
This is followed by the lecture on the importance of planet Earth and its features. Capping off the lecture on Earth is a discussion on climate change and the importance of conserving the environment.
Excited to look through the telescope
The most exciting part for the students is the session on looking through the telescope. Most of them expressed their excitement as they wait for their turn to get a peak of the full moon. As a result, the science teachers were elated to have found a new subject to teach the students of Camiguin in a nonconventional way.
“It is challenging since we needed to do further studying and research as we might encounter students who might ask us questions. We go to schools every night with different students and I enjoy doing this a lot said,” said Sheila Balingcos, one of the teachers at Camiguin Nightscapes. Another teacher, Maria Luisa Yecyec, have expressed her gratitude as they have learned a lot and shared what they have learned. She also expressed her need to learn how to teach the students in a nonconventional way.
“Because of the huge number of students we encounter every night, sometimes I wonder how we could come up with something that could further gain their interest in astronomy as much as we did,” Yecyec said.
“You need patience, and learn more techniques and strategies to keep the attention of students while we teach them,” said Joy Salingay, a fellow teacher at the Camiguin Nightscapes.
Destination for stargazing
Together with Kilaha and the science teachers of DepEd Camiguin that Jurial heads, they are optimistic the project will continue next year. Narros commends the cooperation of the Camiguingnon. He intended, on behalf of Kilaha Foundation, that the projects will move forward. “We are looking at the possibility of extending this project after the first phase which will end in March.” Although there are some areas needed to be fixed, Jurial gave assurance that the project will continue.
“Definitely, this is a good project and I have more projects in mind to develop new approaches in teaching astronomy to the students of Camiguin.” Juarial is looking at promoting Camiguin as an ecotourism destination for astronomy in the country. This means bringing tourists to their proposed nightscape park for stargazing.
Narros emphasized that this project would be a near possibility with the coordination of DENR Camiguin as Mount Timpoong and Hibok-Hibok has just been named in November as Asean Heritage Park.
Image credits: Stephanie Tumampos