Community service activity information:

Organization - Monarch High School Science Honor Society.

Date and location - April 10, 2024 at Monarch High School.

Activity:

My community service activity was giving a presentation about astronomy and astrophysics to
STEM-inclined students at Monarch High School.

It went well! The students were all really engaged throughout the presentation, excited after,
and asked lots of questions.

I chose this activity because I wanted to engage with students who are potentially interested in
studying fields related to the sciences in college, and tell them about space. I thought that if
someone had been there to give a presentation like this to me when I was in high school, I would
have been really excited about and interested in participating in space activities in college and
pursuing a career in the space industry.

I was able to talk with the students in science honor society, impacting them.

During the activity, there were a lot of questions about black holes and exoplanets. Students
asked about the solar eclipse that had happened a few days prior to the event, what happens
when you go into a black hole, how black holes form, how we know about conditions on
exoplanets, what the likelihood of extraterrestrial life is, and more. The comment we received
after the activity that stuck with me the most was an email from one of the students, who
intends to major in astronomy when he goes to college next year. He stated that “I haven't been
exactly sure what my journey would look like through college, but now, I have a path to follow.”

How it went and future plans:

Before the activity, I was slightly nervous that the students wouldn’t care. After, I was excited
because all of them were really engaged with the presentation and excited to talk with us after. I
made a connection with the teacher taking over Monarch’s Science Honor Society after the
current teacher who runs it (Ms. Ellis) retires. He is a science and math teacher at the school,
and reached out afterwards asking for some additional science outreach. I would like to continue
doing outreach events for science to get people interested in space, and especially for high
school students who are part of traditionally underrepresented communities in STEM.

A photo of myself and Hope, who I did this outreach event with, is attached below. This is a photo of us
in Ms. Ellis’ chemistry classroom with one of our presentation slides about black holes, which the
students were particularly interested in.