
However I was there at the school to begin the first of three recording sessions at the request of Phoenix FM a local community radio station.
Teacher Ray Keenaghan was to give up his classroom for three consecutive Friday mornings to facilitate my workshops Deadly Moons, Rapid Rockets / Wicked Robots and STARSAREUS. The three classroom based drawing workshops were to be finished off with a visit to Dunsink Observatory. The observatory visit included a short talk on the South Telescope , Dunsink Observatory itself, Hamiliton and a revisit to the solar system , stars and planets. That was a busy evening , but I enjoyed every second of their little smiling faces.
Over the course of the workshops, sixty drawings were produced with gusto, pride and fun by the children who took part. I also had the pleasure of several interviews for smaller groups who chatted away to me about their interesting thoughts on Moons, Stars and Robotic space exploration.
As an extension of the project Susan King community liaison officer for the station arranged for the drawings to be on exhibition in Blanchardstown Library, you can see them from February 6 th until February 17 th if you are in the area.
Serendipity paid a visit to this whole effort as it has often done several times in the past. During this period Eric Crisholm (Head of outreach | Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics) and UNAWE point of contact for Canada , requested me to send some Deadly Moon drawings for an exhibition hosted by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.
How perfect !! So I took the opportunity to send images (via Drop Box) of all the Moons from Ladyswell National School plus a selection of Moon drawings from other groups. These Moons will be on exhibition as part of The National Science Art Exhibition in the National Convention Centre Vancouver Canada from February 16th till February 20th how cool is that?
The three radio documentaries will be broadcast on Phoenix FM during February
Workshops developed and presented by Deirdre Kelleghan
Huge thanks to Ladyswell National School for taking part and to the teachers who were very
supportive during and after school hours.
The series was produced by Phoenix FM and made with the support of
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Producer Susan King - Sound Dermot Day
Follow Phoenix FM on Twitter @925_PhoenixFM
Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixFM.Dublin
Many thanks to Hilary O Donnell DIAS for facilitating the Dunsink Observatory visit
You can contact Hilary directly via the link above to arrange a visit for your school to the observatory during the year.