Credit: Rachel Philipson

Fifty-four seventh graders from Manhattan's all-girls Chapin School converged in the Space Sciences Building April 16-17 for two days of activities, tours and talks on all things astronomy. Among topics covered were the basics of stellar evolution to the challenges of being a female graduate student in the sciences. The trip also included an evening observing session at Fuertes Observatory, talks on NASA's ongoing Cassini and Mars Exploration Rover missions, and a nighttime bowling party at Helen Newman Hall.

It was the second year Chapin seventh graders made the trip, which was organized by the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, the Department of Astronomy and the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, all at Cornell.

For 13-year-old Charlotte Walsh, who particularly enjoyed learning about spectroscopy, the trip was a fun way of preparing for material she and her classmates will be learning in more depth later this spring. "It was really cool," she said.

"We really want to get them interested in science and excited about science," added Chapin School teacher and seventh grade dean Marsha Reynolds, "so they don't give up later and become writers, or something."