Good evening everyone, First of all, thank you for your support of #saveyerkes. The following message was posted to our official Facebook page yesterday, and we would like to reach more of you in order to ask for your help. From Facebook: As many of you may know, #saveyerkes has been just about radio silent for months. The University of Chicago has realized, not incorrectly, that staying silent, failing to heed the words of those of us who truly care about Yerkes, is unfortunately an effective way to keep us all with the wool over our eyes so to speak, to leave us with nowhere to turn and nothing to do. Our petition has nowhere to go, as the University has clearly and irreversibly decided not to listen to the community who came to a village board meeting in Williams bay, who signed our petition and who turned up in mass on May 18, to which they should be held solely responsible. No new word has come from UChicago in months other than an empty email thanking us for our dedication. Little did they know where this action would take us as the #saveyerkes team. To us, the last months signal in no uncertain terms that we are on our own to save Yerkes and the programs that matter to us. It is clear that this is the path they have chosen, the decision they made to proceed without transparency, without communication is a decision that until now, had no answer. But today, Bastille Day of all days, is the day when all that changes. Today we move forward with our own way to preserve the programs that us as the students who started this movement hold to be important. Along with staff who will be affected by the ceasing of operations, and others concerned about moving forward, we take the first steps. Today, we unveil GLAS. The purpose of Geneva Lake Astrophysics and STEAM (GLAS) is to ensure the viability of programs formerly operated by Yerkes Education Outreach (YEO), preserve the mission and goals of YEO and seek out new opportunities and funding sources for long-term sustainability of GLAS programs. GLAS seeks $100,000 by the end of august in order to facilitate the movement of programs formerly operated by Yerkes Observatory to places where they can continue to be successful with the support of partners in and around the community. Not sure what those are? Read below: Skynet Junior Scholars (SJS), which got its start in YEO, has expanded, and is being utilized by schools and 4-H clubs around the country. This program allows students to use research-grade telescopes located around the globe to take images and get authentic and meaningful data from deep space objects. Yerkes even hosts two of the telescopes found on this online network. SJS has fostered programs that have lasted until the present day that have bridged the gap between historical research and the need for collaborative education in STEM. Yerkes, in addition to its public outreach for local schools, has developed a special relationship with the Wisconsin School for the Deaf (WSD). Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind students who attend the school receive opportunities they would not normally have in their own school districts. YEO staff work with interpreters to build skills in signing high level English terms that have no American Sign Language (ASL) counterpart. Working with a variety of partners, students have changed how the DHH community engages in the language and vocabulary of astronomy, adding dozens of signs to an international sign language dictionary of Science and Astronomy terms. Awarded a 2.5 million dollar NSF research and development grant, IDATA (Innovators Developing Accessible Tools for Astronomy) merges schools and organizations in an unprecedented three-year collaborative effort to develop an astronomy image processing software accessible to the blind and visually impaired (BVI). IDATA engages both BVI and sighted high school students and their teachers at a national level. In collaboration with UChicago and other university undergraduates, teams in educational research and consulting, and a plethora of other innovative minds, the project seeks to break barriers by abandoning traditional education and design techniques to create innumerable possibilities for all, regardless of vision. The ability to study, discover, and marvel at all astronomy has to teach us is made available with the accessibilization done by IDATA. The McQuown Scholars program engages high school students in real, hands-on research, using the Stone Edge Observatory (SEO), a remotely operated telescope in Sonoma, California. Data students obtain using SEO provides a sense of ownership. Though projects are guided by Yerkes staff and professors, students are free to explore in any direction their data leads them. Summer camps provide the chance for local elementary, middle, and high school students to participate in one-of-a-kind week-long camps at Yerkes which revolve around a central STEM theme. From flying and programming drones to late-night observing sessions using telescopes campers build themselves, Yerkes allows these memorable experiences to stay with students long after their time at the observatory has come to a close. All efforts displayed by students involved in education outreach programs are showcased nearly every month at public star parties hosted by the observatory. These create excellent opportunities for everyone to learn, regardless of astronomical knowledge. Visitors from all over the world journey to Williams Bay for an unforgettable night of learning about constellations, tactile astronomy, deep space objects, and much more. Along with seizing the opportunity to observe the dazzling night sky Yerkes has to offer, each experience provides a unique window into a profound understanding of our universe. From navigating and touching the stars to traveling back into the time machine that is space, star parties draw a variety of people. From children with burning curiosity and enthusiasm in their eyes and hearts to adults who still follow the whims of their inner child, the observatory immerses them in the life-altering grasp of space and its ability to change our perception of our place in the cosmos through firsthand experience. Programs like these have become an integral part of what Yerkes offers local students and families in and around the Lake Geneva area. With all of that said, we at #saveyerkes hope you will take a look at GLAS, consider donating to the cause, and helping to keep the education and public outreach programs alive as the University has not. The difference, just as it did way back in March, lies with each and every one of you. Let's show that Yerkes, the opportunities it provides, the lives it impacts, and the change it is bringing to students the world over, all of that matters! Share this, check out the official GLAS Facebook page, and continue to help in any way you can. Thank you all for your continued and unending support of #saveyerkes, GLAS, and of course, Yerkes. None of this would be possible without a community of people dedicated to STEM, to learning, to making these experiences accessible to those who wouldn't have these opportunities without Yerkes. For more on GLAS and to donate: Visit the website at www.glaseducation.org Thank you!