Space Week at Newport NS

To celebrate International Space Week, we are delighted to welcome Deirdre Kelleghan, Artist, Astronomer, Writer, Educator to our school on Friday 5th October.

Deirdred invents and enacts creative workshops to help bring about a proactive understanding of Astronomy and Space subjects for people of all ages. Her workshops use simple art materials to splice Space and Astronomy events with creative processes, enhancing the learning experience.

Deirdre comes to us with quite a pedigree - she held the presidency of the Irish Astronomical Society from 2006-09. Currently an active member of The Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies. Has been a regular speaker at Dunsink Observatory in Dublin and a presenter during Science Week for many years. Deirdre coauthored a book on ‘Sketching the Moon -An Astronomical Artists Guide’. She is a contributing artist/writer for the BBC Sky at Night Magazine and is currently a regular contributing writer for The Vatican Observatory Foundation.

During her visit, Deirdre will work with the children of 5th and 6th class on a workshop entitled 'Let's go to the Moon' The workshop will begin with a 20 minute presentation about the Apollo 11 Moon Landing. A drawing session will then begin with tuition, encouragement and suggestions. This workshop will ensure the children will know how to locate the landing spot of Apollo 11 on the moon with their naked eye. The workshop will finish up with a short video from the NASA Apollo Missions.