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PRESS RELEASES
Students win awards at 2006 Contra Costa science fair
Students win awards at first Contra Costa science fair
Spitzer Space Telescope observation scheduled for April 2006
Students prepare projects for new science fair
Academy teacher named Outstanding Educator by California CUE
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Deer Valley student tops science fair chart
Contra Costa Times-- Roni Gehlke
Article Launched: 04/13/2007 03:11:37 AM PDTLast month, Spahn won the grand prize in the 2007 Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair that was held at Heald College in Concord. He will represent Contra Costa County at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, N.M., in May. He will be taking his project, which was titled "Airfoil Efficiency As Determined By Camber," with him to New Mexico.
Read the entire article here.
DV Students Win Big at Science Fair
April 5, 2007
Antioch PressSpahn completed his wind tunnel and data collection just in time for the recent 2007 Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair, where he won a first-place rating for twelfth grade. He also won the grand prize at the fair, and, along with a student from De La Salle High School, will represent Contra Costa County at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, N.M.
...Juniors Alekzandir Morton, Thomas Travagli and senior Manutej Mulaveesala won with their project A Galaxy Ablaze from Afar, which detailed their use of data collected from both ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope to determine what kind of radiation is emitted from a distant blazar, a galaxy being torn apart by a titanic black hole at its center.
...The school’s first-ever earth science entry was completed by junior John Dawson, who won a $150 prize from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petrochemical Engineers for his research on the transmission of earthquake energy through the various materials underlying Deer Valley High School.Read the entire article here.
Astronomy students reach for the stars
Friday, October 13, 2006
by Beth Allen"Astronomy to me has some of the most unanswered questions today,” said student John Michael Santiago during an after-school study session. “I enjoy the mystery.”
Santiago, Alekzandir Morton, Thomas Travagli and Manu Mulaveesala are among those enrolled in The Antioch ESPACE Academy, which stands for Earth, Space, Astronomy Center for Education. The class is more akin to an internship than rote learning.Read the entire article here.
DV students win awards at science fair
Brentwood Press (Antioch Edition) 14 April 2006
Student astronomy researchers from Deer Valley High School’s ESPACE academy won several awards at the recent Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair.
“ We did pretty well,” wrote astronomy teacher Jeff Adkins in an e-mail.Read the rest of the article here.
Deer Valley wins science awards
ANTIOCH: The only East County high school to enter fair has five students earning recognition, scholarships
By Andrew Becker
CONTRA COSTA TIMES4 April 2006
Their astronomy research focused primarily on things that are out of this world. And now they have been recognized for producing work that follows suit.
Five Deer Valley High seniors received awards, including more than $2,000 in scholarships, at the inaugural Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair at Heald College in Concord on Saturday....
"They worked really, really hard. They had hundreds and hundreds of hours of research," said Jeff Adkins, astronomy teacher and director of the school's ESPACE (Earth, Space, Astronomy Center for Education) Academy. "(The awards) validate the work they did."
The Deer Valley science projects come out of the ESPACE Academy with the aim of pursuing topics of interest, not awards, Adkins said. But winning certainly reinforces the students' efforts, he said.
In the physical sciences category, Brielle Hinkley, who analyzed data from pictures taken by NASA's Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope, earned third place and a $750 scholarship. Crystal Ewen won third place and a $400 scholarship for her work with a remote-controlled telescope in New Mexico to detect matter falling into a black hole. Jennifer Becker took third place in the fair and first from the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society. Jennifer Shankey's study of light pollution in Antioch won third place and a $200 scholarship.
Anne Nguyen, who conducted a study on gender bias and perception of scientists, won second place in the behavioral/social sciences division. She found that gender bias toward scientists begins as early as second grade. The irony that all five award winners from Deer Valley High were female was not lost on her.
" Since it's the 21st century, I thought the glass ceiling would be completely shattered," she said. "I expected some gender bias, but I was surprised by the second- and third-graders."
Read the entire article here.
Science Fair -School Notes
by Paula King
March 2006Student astronomy and science researchers from Deer Valley High will have their work on display Saturday at the new Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair in Concord.
Among those exhibiting are Brielle Hinkley, who analyzed data from pictures taken by NASA's Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope; Anne Nguyen, who conducted a study on gender bias and perception of scientists; and Crystal Ewan, who used a remote-controlled telescope in New Mexico to detect matter falling into a black hole.
The new science and engineering fair, which this year breaks off from the Bay Area Science Fair, will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until noon at Heald College. There are 98 projects entered. The entries will be judged Friday with awards announced Saturday before the fair is open to the public.
In other news, Deer Valley High teacher Jeff Adkins was named outstanding teacher for 2006 by the Computer Using Educators. Adkins, who teaches Astronomy and Physics and directs the ESPACE (Earth, Space, Astronomy Center for Education) Academy, was the only teacher in California to receive the award this year.Original story posted here.
EAST COUNTY STUDENTS ENTER SCIENCE FAIR
by Andrew Becker
Contra Costa Times
March 2006Science students from four East County schools will exhibit their projects Saturday at the new Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair in Concord.
The new science and engineering fair, which this year breaks off from the Bay Area Science Fair, will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until noon at Heald College. Overall, 110 students entered 98 projects. The entries will be judged Friday, with awards announced Saturday before the fair opens to the public.
The East County schools are Deer Valley High with 10 projects, Holy Rosary with eight, Excelsior with three and Delta Vista Middle with two.
Among those exhibiting are Brielle Hinkley, who analyzed data from pictures taken by NASA's Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope; Anne Nguyen, who conducted a study on gender bias and perception of scientists; and Crystal Ewan, who used a remote-controlled telescope in New Mexico to detect matter falling into a black hole.The original article is here.
Budding engineers anticipate science fair
By Betsy Mason
CONTRA COSTA TIMESSome students at the workshop were hoping to find inspiration for a project, while others already had an idea or had started an experiment.
Brielle Hinckley, a 17-year-old senior at Deer Valley High School in Antioch, says she hopes her project will win some scholarship money to help her attain her goal of becoming an aerospace engineer. "I am going to measure the microvariability between two different types of active galactic nuclei in a black hole," she said.http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/13382690.htm
(registration required)Student Achievement
in the Brentwood News section of the Contra Costa Times
by Paula King"Deer Valley senior Brielle Hinckley was selected to observe a giant black hole in a distant galaxy with a telescope at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Ariz. Hinckley submitted a research proposal for this special project.
A professional astronomer will assist her with the equipment and all of her expenses will be paid. The data that is gathered will help her create a science fair project and she will also submit a paper to a student research journal.
Hinckley is a member of the ESPACE Academy on the Antioch campus. ESPACE is an earth science academy that is funded through a branch of the California Department of Education."Link to original article here.
Coaching the new stars of science
in the Antioch Weekly
Posted on August 5, 2005by Harry Stoll - Staff writer
"...But students are the true stars of Adkins’ galaxy. Last year was the first time Deer Valley students had entered the competition in the Bay Area Science Fair, and Ashley Hall, Tri Nguyen and Barry Parker received awards at this year’s fair."
Read the entire article here.
Deer Valley Students Bring Stars to the Fair
in the Southeast Antioch News
Friday, June 10, 2005by Paula King
SOME FAIRGOERS got a chance to see the sun, moon and stars at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds in Antioch last weekend when Deer Valley High School's planetarium class presented shows in the portable Starlab Planetarium.
Deer Valley was also the scene of a special planetarium show this weekwhen student Barry Parker presented Stellar Evolution, which included a tour of celestial objects known as the Messier List. Student Phil Gilbert also displayed his Andromeda art in the planetarium.
Read the entire article here.Teacher Observing Program (TOP)
October Observing Run
October 2004by Dr. Katy Garmany
How many high school seniors can say they missed the big school dance because they were observing at Kitt Peak? For 3 nights in October, 2004, a graduate of the TLRBSE teacher program and two of his students observed with the WIYN 0.9 m telescope. With oversight from Katy Garmany, teacher Jeff Adkins and his students from Deer Valley High School ( CA ) learned the real life of an astronomer. Click the link for more...
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/tlrbse/top-200410.html
Deer Valley gets new campus planetarium
in the Ledger-Dispatch
10-14-2004by Danielle Samaniego
ASTRONOMY students at Deer Valley High School need only make their way to a textbook storage room just off of the library to take a star trek through space.
Jeff Adkins, chairman of the school's science department, and his students oversaw the installation of a campus planetarium dome 11 feet-high and 15 feet in diameter. The planetarium will be able to bring an array of lessons and shows to life for up to 35 students.
Look for digital shows on stars, planets, asteroids, galaxies and other space phenomena when the planetarium officially opens to the public later this month.
The planetarium will only add to Adkins' ESPACE (Earth, Space and Astronomy Center for Education) program for students. The academy will offer classes in earth, marine and space sciences, physics and planetarium production.
To infinity and beyond
Speaking of those ESPACE students, Adkins will escort three of his students -- Robert Johnson, Kyle Hornbeck and Tri Nguyen -- to Tucson, Ariz. at the end of the month to observe the stars from the professional telescopes atop Kitt Peak. The Deer Valley group is one of 14 teams from across the country to partake in this program.
The trip will include one day in Tucson for a half-day science preparation with the instrument astronomer and a half-day for staff discussions and public relations activities. They'll spend another two to three days on Kitt Peak gathering data. They will use the data to put together a science project documenting their research.(registration required)
Read the article here.
Deer Valley Students Shoot for the Stars at ESPACE Academy
June 2004 in the Antioch PressBy Cher Grace
Students, parents and teachers must crawl on their hands and knees through a worm-like space to enter the Planetarium Dome used in astronomy classes at Deer Valley High School.
A guide seats people and explains what the presentation will entail. The lights go out and the guide begins by pointing to the North Star and its surrounding star shapes, the Big Dipper and Little Dipper. They are also known as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, which mean "Big Bear" and "Little Bear" in Latin.http://www.antiochpress.com/article.cfm?story=06040412a&paper=antioch
Graduate's dreams are ambitious, astronomical
June 23, 2004 in the Ledger-Dispatchby Danielle Samaniego
ANTIOCH-Bradford Applin is well aware that his career aspirations come off like a childhood fantasy, but the Deer Valley High School graduate really did want to be an astronaut when he grew up.
The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time for free.Planetarium to open new horizons at Deer Valley
February 11, 2004 in the Ledger-Dispatchby Kelli Phillips
ANTIOCH - Astronomy students at Deer Valley High School will soon be able to make the galaxy come alive using digital technology in the campus' new planetarium.
Deer Valley is one of a handful of high school campuses in the Bay Area to have an astronomy curriculum. Soon it will also have its own planetarium, which school officials hope to have operational by the end of the school year...."The original article is posted here:
Mars news raises interest in space at Deer Valley
February 11, 2004 in the Ledger-DispatchBy Kelli Phillips
ANTIOCH - As rovers scan the surface of Mars, high school students in Jeff Adkins' astronomy class are looking to the stars and beyond.
Deer Valley High School is one of the few campuses in the Bay Area that offers astronomy classes.
The original article is here:
Submitted to DVHS school newsletter in October 2003:
The Deer Valley High School Space Academy has been funded for school year 2003-2004 with a continuation of its Specialized Secondary Program grant from last year. This year's grant is $100,000 and will be used for the construction of a permanent planetarium facility, support for interdisciplinary projects on selected 9th and 10th grade teams, field trips, teacher training, and textbooks. This is the first official implementation year for the Space Academy and we are working on many different projects. A new web page has been established for the academy at http://homepage.mac.com/dvhscience/SpaceAcademy/. (Capitalization matters for this address). Planetarium Production class has already started providing programs for elementary school students at John Muir elementary. Astronomy/Physics Research class has produced a photograph of Mars from the school's telescope and is applying for telescope time at different observatories. The Astronomy/Space Science class went on a field trip to Chabot Observatory on October 30. And that's just getting started! Other projects being undertaken include:
- The continuation of the RA1420 Radio Telescope project started last year by student Eric Chamberlain, to build a functional radio telescope for the school, supported by the Antioch Education Schools Foundation.
- The completion of a web site (www.cccoe.net/stars) showing how to build a cardboard planetarium, which was funded by a CTAG grant through the Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation.
- Continuing support and opportunities from the Teacher Leaders in Science Education project, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the University of Arizona which sent two teachers to the National Science Teacher's National Convention last year.
- Several teachers went to a NASA workshop on November 1 on how to check out lunar and meteorite samples for use in the classroom, after which students at Deer Valley will get up-close access to actual moon rocks.
Jeff Adkins, Director
astronomyteacher@mac.com
Cheryl Domenichelli, Assistant Director
cheryldomenichelli@antioch.k12.ca.us
4700 Lone Tree Way
Antioch, CA 94531
The ESPACE Academy is sponsored in part by a grant from the California Department of Education's Specialized Secondary Program.
