Science leaps from the textbook into real life with CCF grants
IF YOU’RE WALKING BY Liberty High School on a bright sunny day in Frisco and wonder what time it is, there’s no need to check a watch or mobile device.
Instead, look for a strategically placed concrete slab and circles in front of the campus. Find the right month. Then, observe your shadow in relation to the stones, which are numbered like a clock.
From March through November, compensate for Daylight Savings Time by subtracting an hour. Finally, because North Texas is toward the west end of the Central Time Zone, you shave another 30 minutes off to get the correct time.
Materials to build the analemmatic sundial were purchased through a Frisco Education Foundation grant that was funded by the CoServ Charitable Foundation. Liberty High School Astronomy teacher Kenric Davies is a prolific Frisco Education Foundation (FEF) grant recipient and has multiple grants funded by CCF.
All of them bring scientific concepts out of the textbook and into real life. The sundial provides a hands-on experience for students to tell time as our ancestors did.
“Students know the days are longer in the summer and shorter in the winter but this sundial allows them to visually see it,” Kenric said.
The students also built a horn telescope that captures light from other galaxies and measures the speed with which the Earth is spinning, thanks to other CCF-funded grants.
“We’re looking at independent measurement of how fast the Earth is moving around the sun, which allows us to get information on the gravitational pull the sun has on the Earth,” Kenric said. “We can also look at how different parts of the galaxy are moving relative to us and how fast the galaxy is spinning.”
Allison Miller, who retired as the Frisco Education Foundation Director in June after 24 years, watched in amazement as Kenric used the various tools purchased from CCF grants.
“I think the biggest thing for me is when we see companies such as CoServ pour into the educational experience and environment of our students, knowing that what they do now is going to impact their future,” Allison said. “We can pretty much call on CoServ whether we need time, talent and obviously, you guys are very generous with your grants.”
The CoServ Charitable Foundation’s academic initiatives are funded entirely by Operation Roundup, where CoServ Members and Customers round their bills up to the nearest dollar. The pennies from Operation Roundup help CCF fund grants within our service area.
