Posts Tagged ‘fun for the kids’

Every month, the public can enjoy free viewings of the night sky at UMSL's Schwartz Observatory. Photo credit: Mark Scott Abeln, Rome of the West*

You may already know that North County played a huge role in the history of the US space program and that all of the Gemini and Mercury space capsules were built right here, at the former McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. But did you realize that NoCo is also home to two of the three public observatories in St. Louis?

Both UMSL and the Pattonville School District have observatories that are open to the public, for free, at least once a month for most of the year. And wow, what an amazing view they offer!

Technically, UMSL has the stronger telescope – a 14″ Schmidt-Cassegrain Celestron versus Pattonville’s new 10″ Meade – but Pattonville has the distinction of being the first school or college in Missouri to open its own observatory and planetarium, way back in 1967. Perfect for cloudy evenings, the planetarium can hold up to 25 people and offers a 360-degree projected view of the galaxy. And yes, it’s free too!

Both observatories have staff or students on hand to answer astronomy questions, so come prepared to learn. And if you’re heading to UMSL, dress for the weather. The observatory is outdoors.

For more info and specific directions to the upcoming open houses, just follow the links below:

Pattonville Observatory: March 5, 7:30pm. See Saturn, a near full moon, celestial six pack, M42, star birth, star life cycle and star colors.

UMSL’s Schwartz Observatory: March 20, 7:30pm. See Saturn, Mars, Venus, a first quarter moon and the Beehive Cluster.

UPDATE, 2/26: Turns out NoCo has THREE observatories open to the public! Thanks to Max Slover and KCFV’s Tim Gorry for letting me know that Flo Valley’s observatory, located on top of the college library, will be open for tours as part of the campus open house: April 10, 11am-2pm.

(*The lovely image in this post was taken by Mark Scott Abeln, a very talented photographer who runs a fascinating blog about Catholic St. Louis called Rome of the West. Check it out!)

Ice skating coach Becky Kern-Ryan (left) teaches fundamentals to a class of pint-sized beginners at the Ice Zone in Hazelwood.

Like me and many other NoCo natives of a certain age, Ferguson resident Becky Kern-Ryan grew up ice skating at the North County Recreation Complex on Redman Road. She got her first pair of ice skates for Christmas when she was 11, and before long, she had far surpassed us “casual skaters” (who showed up mostly to meet boys) and started competing in local meets.

“Over time, I became really involved with the synchro teams at North County,” Kern-Ryan says, referring to the sport of synchronized figure skating where anywhere from eight to 32 skaters perform what’s essentially a dance recital on ice. By age 18, she was not only competing as a synchro skater. She and a friend were also coaching beginner teams at the rec center – despite the fact that interest in ice skating in North County seemed to be waning.

“For a while, we moved over to [U.S. Ice Sports in] Fairview Heights because it was just more active over there,” Kern-Ryan, 33 and now a mother of three, says.

In fact, the number of skaters at North County Rec Complex had dropped off so dramatically in recent years that St. Louis County closed the rink in spring 2008. Its final season drew around 2,000 skaters between October and March, as well as a budget deficit of $160,000.

“People don’t think about it, but the cost of maintaining an ice rink is outrageous,” says Ken Daniels, manager of the Dellwood Soccer Complex, which stopped icing its rink way back in 1983. “All the compressors, the Zamboni…it’s easy to see why a lot of rinks have closed. And not just in North County.”

Daniels recalls the Ice Chateau that used to be on Larimore Road in the 1970s. For a time, the city of Hazelwood also maintained an outdoor rink at White Birch Park, but that was closed in the mid-80s and later converted to a BMX/skate park.

Since the 1990s, the St. Louis area has lost a total of three ice rinks. Today, just two remain in North County: the recently renovated facility at Florissant’s James Eagan Civic Center and the Ice Zone at Hazelwood Mills, where Kern-Ryan now coaches and the St. Louis Blues hold their practices.

Both rinks have had a busy season thus far, offering public and private sessions and skating instruction. The Ice Zone, in particular, has served as the primary training facility for a number of competitive young skaters.

“Having the Blues here really draws people in,” Kern-Ryan says of the Hazelwood rink, where former Ukranian pairs skating champion, Olga Vavilova, is also a coach. “We’re especially busy now, with the Olympics coming up and so many kids getting skates for Christmas.”

And the North County Rec Complex – what’s happening there these days? Following an extensive $1.8 million renovation, the center’s old ice rink is now home to several basketball courts, a volleyball court, a two-lane walking track and new community meeting rooms, all of which are about to be officially unveiled next weekend. I stopped by today and the place is gorgeous!

If you want to see for yourself, attend the open house on Saturday, February 20, from 1-5pm, at 2577 Redman Road, 63136.

You also still have plenty of time to take in some ice skating before winter is over. The Ice Zone has public sessions seven days a week – $5.50 per person plus $2.50 skate rental. Call (314) 227-5288 for specific schedules. The Eagan Ice Rink is also open seven days a week, with admission ranging from $1.50 to $4. For more info, call (314) 921-4470.

Where there was once an ice rink, the North County Rec Complex now boasts a brand new multi-sport facility, which officially opens on February 20.

At the Challenger Learning Center in Ferguson, you can take a journey to outer space and work inside the space shuttle without ever leaving North County.

The space shuttle Endeavor launched successfully this morning, carrying North County native Robert Behnken. But did you realize that NoCo also has another astronaut claim to fame?

The Challenger Learning Center in Ferguson is a hands-on space education facility for both kids and adults, where visitors can take a simulated trip to the space shuttle and discover what it’s like to work in mission control. One of only two such facilities in the state of Missouri, it’s part of a larger network of 47 Challenger Centers founded by families of the astronauts killed in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster.

The St. Louis center, which hosts school groups, scout troops, summer camps, birthday parties and occasional public missions, is a partnership between the Ferguson-Florissant School District, Cooperating School Districts of Greater St. Louis and the St. Louis Science Center. It’s also THE place to be if you’re looking for a unique Valentine’s Day destination!

Mission control at the Challenger Center is modeled after NASA's Johnson Space Center.

This Saturday, February 13, the Challenger Center is holding its annual Fly Your Sweetheart to the Moon event, a couples-only mission that includes a two-hour moon orbit, light snacks and a flower for your favorite lady. Space is limited to only 15 couples, and half the seats are taken already, so sign up today if you’re interested! Tickets are $50 per couple.

To register, contact my good friend Heidi Lung, lead flight director, at (314) 524-3490 x103 or heidi@clcstlouis.org. The Challenger Learning Center is located at 205 Brotherton Lane, 63135. After Valentine’s Day, its next public mission will be held in April.

The cast of Hazelwood East's upcoming musical, Nunsense, practice their lines.

The shrill buzz of a chop saw cuts through an already raucous atmosphere at McCluer High School. It’s 3:45pm and school is out for the day, but the hallways still teem with busy students. In one classroom, dancers meticulously practice their steps. In another, actors run through their lines. And in the warren of workspaces surrounding the Little Theatre, crew members gleefully sing along to blaring show tunes while painting and building an impressive array of sets.

You wouldn’t know it by the negative publicity that often overshadows local high schools, but North County is actually home to some of the finest student theater in the St. Louis area. Over the past four years, graduates from McCluer alone have earned nearly $750,000 in college theater scholarships, with several former students now working professionally in feature films and on Broadway.

North County schools have also racked up numerous awards in the competitive “Cappies” student critic program, including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Play, often beating out theater programs with much larger budgets.

At Hazelwood East, where more than 100 kids participate in drama club, the Spartan Players are furiously preparing for their spring musical, Nunsense, which premieres on February 5. It’s their third production of the school year, following the fall comedy You Can’t Take It With You, and bubbly junior Antoinette Blaine has been cast as Mother Superior (one of five leads), despite never performing before.

“This is my first year ever, in any play, but I told myself before I graduated I would audition,” she says proudly. “I’m so glad I did.”

Exzavion Powells, who’s playing Sister Robert Anne, is also thrilled to be involved. He even hopes to study theater in college. “I want to learn everything about theater – blocking, building sets, everything,” he says. “I love it.”

His teacher Ken Franke, a Hazelwood East alum who serves as technical director of the school’s drama department alongside director Holly Potthoff, estimates that five or six members of the current junior class will actually become theater majors in college. “We have a good group right now, so you never know,” he says. “Every year, we look at the student pool and try to expose the kids to works that they probably aren’t familiar with…to really address their needs and talents.”

Once the productions are selected, students can work on them both in class and after school, with many aiming to earn entry into the Thespian Troupe 1220 national honor society.

Student crews work together to build sets for Nunsense behind the scenes at Hazelwood East.

Over at McCluer, the approach is similarly “co-curricular,” meaning students can take classes in set design or acting and then use their learned skills to help produce school plays. McCluer also has its own honors troupe, #787, directed by teacher Doug Erwin.

Like Franke, Erwin collaborates with another pro to choose specific shows for his roughly 70 drama students. He and technical theater teacher Erica Pegues strive to select plays that will stretch the kids and expose them to diverse viewpoints, endowing them with “life skills they can take to any career they choose.”

“If we teach them anything, I hope it’s developing a critical eye, cultivating a love of theater and coming up with creative solutions to a problem,” he says. “It’s also very important that they understand an ensemble ethic and what it means to work on a team.”

Erwin, a North County native who has been involved in performing arts since he was 12, cemented his “ensemble ethic” while studying Japanese theater through the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program. “Everyone in a production is equally valuable – that’s what the Japanese recognize,” he says. “When one of our cast members is not in a scene, they’re automatically part of the crew. We don’t tolerate divas here.”

McCluer's drama program is based out of the school's aptly named Little Theatre.

Erwin also supports non-traditional casting, reflecting the diversity of his students. “We don’t care what race you are or what role you’re supposed to play,” he says. “In fact, for Bat Boy [McCluer’s April musical], we only have one rule: you can’t play your own race or gender.”

It’s this kind of progressive thinking that has really propelled the McCluer drama program, allowing it to be recognized on a national level. In 2009, the school was one of only six in the US to receive permission to perform the Laramie Project Epilogue, a compelling show about the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man.

At the end of February, McCluer will also become the first high school in the country to perform August Wilson’s 20^th Century, a collection of ten short plays chronicling the African-American experience. And not only are students there staging and directing the production, they’re also required to study its history.

Students gain practical skills working in the McCluer theater workshop.

“I’ve learned so much in the drama program,” McCluer sophomore Nicole McDuffie says. “It’s been a great social experience and lots of fun, but I also think it’s prepared me in other ways. Sometimes it just makes you see the world a little differently.”

But can it make the world see North County high schools in a new light? Erwin thinks so. “I’ve had parents tell me they wish that everywhere ran the way our theater group does, because it’s so integrated and the kids are so accepting of one another,” he says.

Camilla Hodgson, Hazelwood East’s student director of Nunsense, also sees the positive impact. “A lot of people put our school down, saying it’s nothing but troublemakers,” she says. “But if they’d just come out and watch us, they’d see how talented we are and how hard we work. They may not believe it, but I know we can do anything we set our minds to.”

To see North County’s talented student thespians in action, why not attend one of these upcoming shows? For many performances, tickets are just $5.

Nunsense, Hazelwood East – February 5-6, 7pm

Urinetown, McCluer, February 18-20, 7pm

Once Upon a Mattress, Pattonville High School – February 19-20, 7pm

An Evening with August Wilson, McCluer – February 25, 7pm

The Wizard of Oz, Incarnate Word Academy – February 25-27, 7:30pm

Guys & Dolls, McCluer North – March 11-13, 7pm

Bat Boy: The Musical, McCluer, April 8-10, 7pm

Twelve Angry Jurors, Hazelwood East – April 15-17, 7pm

Little Shop of Horrors, Hazelwood West, April 21-24, 7pm

Fiddler on the Roof, Lutheran North – April 22-23, 7pm

You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Hazelwood Central – April 22-24, 7pm

One-Act Plays, McCluer North – April 22-24, 7pm

It’s hard to feel useful in the face of the unspeakable tragedy in Haiti, but several North County residents have stepped forward to do what they can. On Saturday, January 30, the Savoy in Ferguson will be hosting NoCo for Haiti, a benefit concert featuring music from at least five popular local performers, including Javier Mendoza and The Skyline Band.

Co-sponsored by NOCO, this family-friendly event will also have delicious snacks, auction items, dancing and a cash bar. Admission is whatever goodwill offering you choose to give, so please be generous! Proceeds will benefit the Doctors Without Borders Haiti Fund.

January 30 from 4pm-? at The Savoy, 119 S. Florissant Rd, 63135. For more info, call Chuck Henson at (314) 565-4829.

If you can’t make the concert, perhaps you can help in another way. Ferguson resident Stefannie Wheat (a dear friend of mine) has organized a donation drive for items desperately needed by earthquake victims, with all donations going directly to a Haitian family. Stefannie’s husband works with a Haitian woman named Marie, whose family members survived the earthquake but are now in urgent need of various everyday items.

Requested donations include: adult and children’s clothing (good condition, any size), hygiene items (toothpaste, sanitary products, hand sanitizer, etc), medical items (aspirin, band-aids, bandages, etc) and canned food. Money, of course, is also needed.

Stefannie will be accepting donations at her home and delivering them personally to Marie, who will ship them to her family in Haiti. If you can contribute anything, please drop off items at 403 Harrison in Ferguson (on the front porch if no one is home). Donations will be accepted through Friday, January 29. For more info, call Stefannie at (314) 482-0619.

Thank you!!

Come to Fort Belle Fontaine on January 23 for an up-close experience with both bald eagles and North County's frontier history. Credit: Greg Wacker

Fort Belle Fontaine Park is a magical place any time of year, but this Saturday, the frontier-era former military post will also be a bird watcher’s wonderland. Offering sweeping views of the Missouri River, where many bald eagles do their winter fishing, the park will host well-known birder Kraig Paradise and experts from the World Bird Sanctuary.

Visitors will be able to see a live eagle and other birds of prey up close. They’ll also have a chance to view migrating eagles through telescopes and take a guided three-mile nature hike through historic Fort Belle.

Lewis and Clark camped here in both 1804 and 1806. The park is also home to a number of architectural treasures, including the (allegedly haunted) Grand Staircase built by WPA crews in the 1930s. If the river is low, you might even have a chance to see the actual Belle Fontaine, or “beautiful fountain,” a lovely underground spring that flows into the Missouri.

Saturday’s event is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of Fort Belle Fontaine Park. It’s free and open to the public, January 23, 11am-2pm, at 13002 Bellefontaine Road, 63138.