October 1, 2015

By Stephanie Casenza, MS, APR

In 2013, Chabot Space & Science Center received an IMLS SPARKS! grant to launch a new community partnership with the Oakland Firefighters Random Acts organization.  We pulled together a wonderful event at Franklin Elementary School, located in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Oakland, CA, that attracted more than 250 children and families.  Most did not have the means to visit or had never heard of Chabot, even though it been a part of Oakland since 1883 and was less than seven miles away from the neighborhood.  Everyone agreed it was a magical evening. 

This unique partnership started with a random call from Larry Hendricks, the founder of the Oakland Firefighters Random Acts, a volunteer-led nonprofit created by firefighters to help their fellow firefighters give something extra back to the communities in which they live and serve. That call, fielded by my colleague Melissa Russo, started with a question about what kind of telescope to buy, and quickly snowballed into a much bigger idea:  how can we bring the planets to the playground?  Melissa and Larry landed on the idea of mobile science fairs featuring astronomy, space and earth sciences, which are Chabot’s educational specialties.  The East Bay Astronomical Society, a partner with Chabot since the 1930s, agreed to participate and Random Acts of Science was born. 

After hosting two Random Acts of Science, no one wanted the fun to end.  However, we learned that this particular outreach event required tremendous coordination between our three partner organizations and the Oakland Unified School District.  Despite the large amount of volunteer effort, a Random Act of Science event needed a considerable amount of staff time from Chabot’s education team and security and custodial assistance from the participating schools. 

We learned that a Random Act of Science event works best with an indoor – outdoor venue, such as a school playground with an adjacent multi-purpose room, so there is a built-in back-up option in case of poor weather. The indoor venue accommodates Chabot’s Cosmic Ray Portable planetarium and our Galaxy Explorers teen volunteers, who conduct a variety of table-top demonstrations, including a chemistry-oriented presentation on the Science of Fire.  Outdoors, a 27-foot inflatable screen shows short films on space and science, while the EAS sets up telescopes for stargazing.  Tables, which can be indoors or outdoors, are manned by volunteers sharing information about hazardous materials, firefighting as a career, and Chabot’s Champions of Science and Galaxy Explorers Youth Development Program.  Everyone who attends receives a free pass to Chabot and information about public transportation options to Chabot.

This fall, a new and improved Random Acts of Science will return with a grant from the 50Fund, the San Francisco Bay Area Super Bowl 50 Host Committee.  The funds will enable us to bring four of these pop-up science fairs to Oakland neighborhoods.

Stephanie Casenza, MS, APR, is Interim Director of Institutional Advancement at the Chabot Space & Science Center.