planetarium

When I was in first grade, I went to P.S. 24 in the Bronx, the fancy neighborhood of River Vale, I believe. In the back of our classroom, we had a small planetarium, maybe the size of a really amazing master bathroom. I think the structure itself was a hexagon or an octagon, covered in black felt, and it featured a genuine dome. When we had astronomy twice a week, we all sat in a circle along the perimeter and the teacher stood in the middle with a projector that she turned on with a switch. I think she inserted slides for different star configurations, or for a variety of looks that emphasize different points in the solar system. It was very analog. At the very end, without fail, she’d end with one of the astrological/god signs (can’t remember my stars, so…maybe it wasn’t that good of a class), and then tilt the projector so that the image went on to the walls above our heads and she would “chase” us in this manner. Without fail, the entire classroom erupted in squeals of delight, and to this day, this is one of my happiest memories. I told a colleague about it the other day and he said I was smiling the whole time. Nerd.