Dark Skies, Bright Kids — Year 12

We present updates from our twelfth year of operation including a summary of how we adapted our approach to education and public outreach in the face of a global pandemic. Our core mission is to enhance elementary science education and literacy in Central Virginia through fun, hands-on activities that introduce basic Astronomy concepts. Over the past four summers, we have traveled to six rural Virginia locations to bring week-long Astronomy summer camps to otherwise overlooked elementary school districts. The onset of the global pandemic made this impossible for Summer 2020. We adapted our week-long in-person summer camp to a virtual format, with over 35 students attending from around Virginia. We have taken what we learned from this experience and applied it to our more traditional 8 week-long club and a community star party. Here, we present how we maintained an inquiry-based learning environment through a virtual interface and comment on the success of this model.