On Friday February 28, 48 Piner students went on a field trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. They got to experience many science exhibits.
We wish to give a huge thank you to the Active 20-30 Club of Santa Rosa. The transportation was funded by a generous grant from their organization.
Exploratorium field trip
The February 12, 2025 STEM Cafe presentation on the International Space Station (ISS) by SPARQ Observatory Mentor Steve Smith is now available on our YouTube channel. A link is also available on the Experience SPARQ page.
Thank you Steve Smith, SPARQ Observatory Mentor, for an interesting and informative presentation on the International Space Station (ISS) at the 2/12 STEM Cafe. We also got a preview of a couple of student astrophotography projects. We look forward to seeing the final results :)
The SPARQ Center at PHS thanks SRJC Astronomy & Physics Instruction, Laura Sparks for her presentation at the January 15th STEM Cafe. Ms. Sparks recently created a new class at SRJC called Life in the Universe. She shared the most interesting things she learned while preparing the class, including new missions to explore the solar system, weird life on frozen moons, and the search for habitable earth-like planets throughout the galaxy.
New addition to the SPARQ Center thanks to Piner High School instructor Mike Converse and John Hubacz, CEO of JH Technologies, for this donation of a research grade Nikon Eclipse 80i Fluorescence Microscope. Thanks to this new acquisition students will be able to explore the micro world including microphotography, drawings and observations, fluorescence microscopy, and research to support the STEM Certificate Program, increasing the SPARQ Center’s capability for our teachers and students. We DO science!
JH Technlogies iFuSE Program: “The purpose of our ‘iFuSE‘ program is to provide tools to those people and institutions that will teach/train our scientists of the future. The JH Technologies team will gather new, used, and broken microscopes, repair them, and distribute them to organizations that focus on educating our children in grades K -12. These microscopes will be donated to qualifying schools and teaching organizations.“
The Spring 2025 STEM Café Events are posted! Check the SPARQ calendar online or download the flyer.
The December 4, 2024 STEM Cafe presentation on the 2024 Election by SSU Political Scientist David McCuan is now available on our YouTube channel. A link is also available on the Experience SPARQ page.
The SPARQ Center at PHS thanks Dr. David McCuan for his presentation at the December 4th STEM Cafe. Dr. McCuan is a professor at Sonoma State University. He is an expert in both international and national politics, international security and terrorism, state and local politics, campaigns and elections, and political behavior. Just as he did in May he gave a very interesting talk about the science behind the recent presidential election as well as providing insight into the current political landscape.
Mr. Kruger says one of the best things about having students visit our SPARQ Center are the thank you cards and books that schools send to him. Take a look at the wonderful art from Sarah Peterson’s 5th grade class from Sequoia Elementary School. Visiting students get to participate in hands on activities and see films in our full dome theater.
The SPARQ Center at PHS thanks Dr. Kasey Schalich, Ph.D. for her presentation this week - “My career journey: from Piner High School to becoming a food gut microbiota interactions researcher.” She works in the Department of Food Science & Technology at UC Davis. After her presentation she shared drinks and dark chocolates containing fiber (good for our micro biomes) for the attendees to try. What was your favorite?
On Friday October 18, 47 Piner students went on a field trip to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. They got to experience an earthquake, a rainforest, an aquarium, and a planetarium movie about asteroids and the solar system.
Board member, Mindy Breslin, captured Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over the SPARQ Center on Thursday October 17, 2024.
Please join the SPARQ Center at Piner Board in welcoming Kevin Le as our 2024-2025 Student Representative. He is a junior and the salutatorian of the class of 2026. At Piner, Kevin is actively involved as President of both the School Site Council and the California Scholarship Federation. He is also part of the Early College Magnet Program, where he has earned 38 college credits. Kevin became a STEM prospect as a sophomore, participated in the High-Powered Rocketry Group, and has a strong interest in engineering. In his free time, he helps his parents at Lee’s Noodle House and volunteers with a tutoring non-profit organization.
Only in Sonoma County - Hot Air Balloon over SPARQ Center. SPARQ Board Member, Mindy Breslin, captured a hot air balloon over the SPARQ Center on September 27, 2024.
Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! The SPARQ Center at Piner High has lots of great things planned this year. Watch this space or follow us on Instagram, Facebook and X/Twitter.
The STEM Cafe and Digital Planetarium schedules are posted on the Events page
We hope to highlight more student projects as the year progresses. If you haven’t seen the 2023-2024 projects go to the Student Projects & Research page.
Many field trips are planned for Piner STEM students including Safari West, Armstrong Woods, Cal Academy of Science, and the Exploratorium.
Elementary visits to the Center were fully booked within 36 hours. We expect to welcome over 800 students from across Sonoma County for a visit. They will get to experience SPARQ Planetarium presentations and STEM station activities. Teachers will go back to their classrooms with science supplies and curriculum.
We would like to welcome Kevin Lee as the 2024-2025 SPARQ Foundation Board Student Representative!
On the morning of April 8 Piner High School students and staff witnessed a partial solar eclipse. It was only 32% in Santa Rosa but Mr. Kruger made sure to make it a memorable event. He brought out the Sunspotter, which projects an image of the sun for safe viewing (and you can see sunspots!). He also rigged up a viewing station with solar glasses. (First photo)
SPARQ Foundation Board Members, Michael Papaik and Mindy Breslin traveled to locations within the path of totality to view this amazing event. Mindy took photos from start to finish and created the collage below. (Second photo)
Photo courtesy Mindy Breslin.
The SPARQ Center at PHS thanks Dr. David McCuan for his presentation at the last STEM Cafe of the 2023-2024 school year. Dr. McCuan is a professor at Sonoma State University. He is an expert in both international and national politics, international security and terrorism, state and local politics, campaigns and elections, and political behavior. He gave a very interesting talk about the science behind the study of politics and provided insight into the current political landscape.
Seeing stars: St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School students recently had a great day at the SPARQ center. Director Mr. Kruger provided special access during Piner High School's spring break to give the students a private tour. Admissions coordinator Danielle Rynning detailed the visit of students talking about the to-scale Solar System, which spans the length of the campus. They also spent time in the observatory and learned how the telescope worked. The group finished their visit with a fantastic planetarium presentation where Kruger guided them through an interactive view of the Milky Way, constellations, planets, the sun and more.
The Chalkboard: Penngrove students celebrate Holi - The Petaluma Argus-Courier (petaluma360.com)
The SPARQ Center would like to thank Lindsay Dawson for her presentation last night. She is a Piner/Grace High School and SRJC alumni who is currently an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, specifically in the Department of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology. Lindsay talked about her rocky start in high school to where she is now and the research she is doing. Watch this space for the presentation link. Her research primarily focuses on mammalian bone and tissue regeneration. We will post when it's available.
