Sky and Telescope - July 2018 - 84

FOCAL POINT by Kyle Jeter

Celestial Solace in Parkland

The city and local astronomy club join forces to help students begin the healing process.

where I've taught for the past 24 years
experienced a tragedy that no school
should ever have to endure. Three of
my colleagues and 14 beautiful young
people had their lives taken away in
a senseless and unfathomable act of
violence. Thankfully, my 4th-period
astronomy class and I
walked out to safety, not
even knowing for some
time the full extent of
the horror that had just
occurred.
For the ﬁrst couple of
days after the shooting, I
felt like I was stuck in a
nightmare, fully expecting to wake up
one morning to ﬁnd things back to the
way they were. Like so many others, I
struggled to ﬁnd something, anything,
I could do to be of help. After a few
restless nights, it dawned on me what
my own, small role should be. I realized that my colleagues and I just had
to be there for our students; we simply
needed to do the things we've always
done to provide a positive and nurturing environment for them. And I knew
exactly where to start.
For 20 years, we've held "Astronomy
Nights" in the Parkland area, most
recently in our garden area at the back
of the school. With the entire school

still a crime scene, though, we couldn't
utilize "Marjory's Garden," much less
get access to the telescopes in my classroom. My colleagues and I were going to
need help.
I tweeted our outstanding mayor,
Christine Hunschofsky, asking if there
was a suitable place that we could use.
Within 24 hours the city
had secured the perfect
location: the local Equestrian Center. It is as dark
as you can get within the
city limits and has ample
parking and the necessary
facilities to accommodate
a crowd. On the night of
our event, the City of Parkland provided volunteers to help with parking,
arranged for Broward Sheriff's Ofﬁce
deputies to be on hand for security,
and even donated bottled water for the
evening's participants.
The next call I made was to my
friend Steve Luxenberg, Director of the
Fox Observatory for the South Florida
Amateur Astronomers Association. He
immediately offered to help and assured
me that he and Monroe Pattillo, the
venerable head of the SFAAA, would
take care of everything. Sure enough,
when I showed up that night I saw a
line of at least a dozen superb telescopes
already set up. As my current students

This fellowship
of students,
friends, parents,
and teachers
proved cathartic.

J U LY 2 0 1 8 * S K Y & T E L E S C O P E

The Moon as it appeared on the night of February 23rd, 2018, from the Equestrian Center in
Parkland, Fla., where amateur astronomers
and local officials pooled their resources for a
soothing Astronomy Night for students.

and dozens of alumni arrived, I was free
to spend time commiserating and reminiscing with them, while the SFAAA
handled the observing.
This fellowship of students, some
of their friends, and a few parents
and teachers proved cathartic for all
involved. It couldn't have happened
without the leadership and generosity
displayed by so many people from both
the City of Parkland and the SFAAA.
When studying the wonders of the
night sky, I believe we often learn as
much about ourselves as we do about
the majesty and mystery of the universe. On February 23rd, my students
and I learned that we share this pale
blue dot of a planet with an enormous
number of giving, good-hearted people.
That was the most enduring observation made under the stars that night,
and I'm deeply grateful to all those who
made it happen.
¢ KYLE JETER is a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida, where he has taught
Honors Astronomy since 1997.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF K Y LE JE TER

ON FEBRUARY 14, 2018, the school

Sky and Telescope - July 2018

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