Berryville, VA – May 29, 2025 – This week, Clarke County Public Schools students are getting a cosmic classroom experience like no other. Through the support of the Clarke County Education Foundation (CCEF), all PreK–5 students at DG Cooley Elementary and Boyce Elementary are participating in an immersive, hands-on Galactic STEM Enrichment Experience—a one-day event designed to spark wonder, deepen science understanding, and inspire future careers in STEM.
The highlight of the program is a mobile 16.5-foot planetarium dome that visits each school for the day. Inside the dome, students take part in interactive presentations aligned with Virginia’s Standards of Learning, exploring space, astronomy, and scientific discovery. While stargazing, they listen to engaging narratives like Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty, laying a strong foundation in both science and literacy.
After their interstellar journey, every classroom receives a resource bag with:
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A copy of Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy
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“Astronaut food” for students to sample
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Three STEM kits with accompanying curriculum guides for extended learning
“This experience combines imagination with real science,” said Beth Williams, Executive Director of the Clarke County Education Foundation. “By funding programs like this, we aim to create lasting impact by igniting curiosity and providing teachers with meaningful tools to bring science alive in the classroom.”
In total, the initiative will serve over 625 students and 40 teachers in Clarke County Public Schools. In addition to reinforcing key Earth and space science SOLs (K.5, 1.6, 2.6, 3.8, 4.8, and 5.6), the project supports scientific inquiry, engineering practices, and computational thinking—key elements for preparing students for future STEM and computer science pathways.
To learn more about this program or how you can support future educational innovations, visit www.ccefinc.org.
