{"id":215337,"date":"2025-05-06T15:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T01:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=215337"},"modified":"2025-05-06T18:55:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T04:55:03","slug":"23rd-astroday-inspires-keiki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/06\/23rd-astroday-inspires-keiki\/","title":{"rendered":"23rd AstroDay inspires keiki through science and stars"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Keiki engaged in demonstrations, games and activities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Crowds gathered at Prince Kūhiō Plaza in Hilo on May 3 for AstroDay 2025, a free celebration of science, technology and space exploration. Faculty, staff and students from the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Institute for Astronomy<\/a> (IfA<\/abbr>) were among scientists and scholars presenting everything from hands-on activities, live science shows to robotics at the 23rd annual event hosted by Maunakea Observatories.<\/p>\n

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Stations highlighted astronomy, robotics and natural sciences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than 30 organizations from across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> came together to share the wonders of science with keiki and their families. Exhibits invited participants to build model comets, create exoplanets and explore the universe through ultraviolet cameras.<\/p>\n

“Everyone\u2019s enthusiastic about sharing their science, and a lot of that energy gets transported to the general public, and that\u2019s what we hope the public will come away with,” said Carolyn Kaichi, education and outreach specialist at IfA<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Seeds of inspiration<\/h2>\n

For many, the event was more than just fun\u2014it was deeply personal. Sage Constantinou, a graduate student at IfA<\/abbr>, remembered how AstroDay helped spark his own scientific journey.<\/p>\n

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AstroDay collector coin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The earlier you can get kids exposed to this sort of thing the longer it has to stew,” Constantinou said. “I used to be a little kid at these events. I grew up here in this town. It\u2019s a big part of why I was able to follow my own path in education and eventually pursue my own research.”<\/p>\n

The event celebrated student creativity through the popular Maunakea Coin Contest. Ros Haleyah Mari Asuncion Ganot, an 11th grader at Pāhoa High and Intermediate School, earned first place with her astronomy-inspired design.<\/p>\n

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A Robot Rumble featured a battle between teams from Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Island high schools.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 23rd annual AstroDay shared the wonders of science with keiki and their families through hands-on activities, displays and demonstrations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":215338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[34,35,1421,9],"class_list":["post-215337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-astronomy","tag-institute-for-astronomy","tag-maunakea-observatories","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t