“When I was a little kid, I would look up at the sky and be intrigued about what’s out there.” Adam Gellert ’17 (North) said.

Ardis Herrold, an astronomy teacher at North, said students like Gellert are interested in astronomy because they are not generally exposed to it in a conventional scholastic setting.

“They really don’t know much (about astronomy) and they want to,” Herrold said. “They are not exposed to (astronomy) as much as other things.”

Herrold said students get one unit in fourth grade, maybe some in sixth grade and if they choose to take earth science, they get slightly more in ninth grade.

Troy Hernandez, astronomy teacher at South, said he thinks more information at a younger age would affect students interests later on.

“More background information would always be helpful,” Hernandez said. “The starting point could always be earlier and earlier and that would definitely help where you end up.”

With the lack of exposure to astronomy in elementary and middle school, students enroll in the class not knowing much about the course.

“I took the class mostly as a filler because I already have most of my credits,” Maria Betanzos ’17 said, “I didn’t know what to expect but it sounded really interesting to me.”

Astronomy helped Betanzos become more familiar with the universe.

“When I looked up at the sky before I took the class, I had no idea where any of the constellations were,” Betanzos said. “Now, I know more constellations and I can locate the North Star, which helps with navigation.”

Astronomy not only helps locate constellations, but develop technologies that improve daily life for society as a whole, Betanzos said.

Hernandez thinks that students should enroll in the class because there is more to astronomy than people think.

“It helps figure out where you are at night, it gives you a good background and it will make you a well rounded individual,” Hernandez said.