A Year-In-Review: SNHS at American Nicaraguan School

by Marlon Cruz, 10th grade, Elected Treasurer 2025-2026

SNHS members observing the wonders of the sky. Nov, 2024

As we wrap up the 2024-2025 school year, our SNHS chapter is proudly concluding a productive period of time.

The year started with the induction of 12 new members, all of whom joined the existing members to attend a welcoming astronomical event in November 2024. To make this possible, we invited the representatives of the “Asociación Nicaragüense de Astrónomos Aficionados ‘Carl Sagan’ - ANASA”. The event started in the evening, with a very interesting and interactive presentation called “Observing the Sky From Earth”, where members had the opportunity to engage in the conversations, by both asking and answering questions. After the presentation had concluded, we moved to an outdoor area where the representatives of ANASA set up four telescopes: Celestron 4-inch, Celstron SE 6-inch, Dobson 10-inch, Dobson 12-inch. These telescopes ensured that our viewing experience was exciting as we could see the wonders of the night sky, so this was truly a star-studded night!

Dr. René Urroz Alvarez, Director of ANASA, presenting the talk "Observing the sky from the Earth". Nov, 2024

Throughout the year, we also celebrated several international science-related days. Mole day on October 23, 2024, on which we commemorate Avogadro’s number in order to foster interest in chemistry, and two United Nations observance days, Clean Energy day on January 26, 2025, on which we raise awareness for a just transition to clean energy sources for the benefit of people and the planet, and Women and Girls in Science day on February 11, 2025, on which we promote the equal participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. For all of these dates, we created murals that represented them.

International Day of Clean Energy mural created by SNHS members. Jan, 2025.

On March 20, 2025, we held our formal closing event by inviting Dr. Alejandra Martinez, who has a PhD in Natural Resources. She gave a talk where she presented her research on the importance of conserving biodiversity in agricultural land. This was a wonderful and insightful way of learning about mutualistic relationships among different species.

Director of the Latin American Chair of Natural Forests at CATIE Costa Rica, Dr. Alejandra Martinez, presenting the talk "Biodiversity conservation in agricultural Landscapes: Why should we Care?" as a closing event for our chapter. March, 2025.

Lastly, we bid farewell to our 12th grade members, who will embark on a new chapter of their lives to study at different universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.

With this year in the books, we are now looking forward to working alongside our new officers during the next school year in which we will continue to plan and conduct activities as a part of fulfilling our mission of “Promoting the passion for science, school-wide, through inquiry and experimentation in the pursuit of understanding natural phenomena”.