ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A beloved part of Dieruff High School is getting an upgrade.
The school is in the process of modernizing and expanding its Learning Dome, a former planetarium that now is a space for interactive, three-dimensional lessons in all subjects.
Upgrades include incorporating live programs and adding portable workstations with VR headsets to take the lessons beyond the dome.
The Learning Dome still has astronomy lessons, but it also can teach students about other subjects such as biology, environmental science and anatomy.
"They can visually make connections that you can't see on a flat screen or in a textbook.”Dieruff Science Department Chair Leila Little
Dieruff Science Department Chairwoman Dr. Leila Little, the school’s Learning Dome educator, said she can see the awe on students’ faces when they watch presentations in the dome.
“It gives us this visual representation and brings it right, literally, in their face,” Little said. “And they can visually make connections that you can't see on a flat screen or in a textbook or in a lesson.”
Lehigh Valley Community Foundation’s Galaxy Fund supplied $70,000 for the first phase of upgrades.
In early January, state Sen. Nick Miller and state Rep. Josh Siegel helped secure $100,000 more, which the district will get in coming weeks.
Little said the Learning Dome is a source of pride for students.
“When they come from a city like Allentown, they don't often have these experiences,” Little said. “And we have it here in our school district, and it's cutting edge and it’s amazing.”
What are the new features?
Little said the dome has upgraded to Digistar7 software, letting her stream live programming and data feeds, such as the cloud pattern over the building and the current terrain of the sun, into the dome.
The dome now also can be controlled using an iPad or an Xbox controller, which Little said is helpful for students.
“They know how to use an Xbox remote better than I know how to use an Xbox remote,” Little said. “So they just go and they can travel the Earth, in and out of space, through the solar system.”
The next round of funding will finance five portable workstations that will function as extensions to the Learning Dome.
They will be able to projected the dome's lessons onto a flat screen in a classroom or auditorium. The workstations also will come with VR goggles for students to view the programming.
Little said those workstations will help more students get involved in the technical aspect of the Learning Dome.
“That's an additional part of learning, is teaching students, 'How does this equipment work?'” Little said.
“And so we can use those workstations to teach them how to use the software. They can then create shows… in whatever classroom they're in. And we can bring that back here, and they can then see it in the dome.”
Little said she does not anticipate the Learning Dome will need another upgrade soon.
“With the investment that was made, we're good for at least the next six years,” Little said. “I can't predict the future with technology, but we should be pretty good.”
Recently reopened
The former planetarium first opened in 1965, but closed in 2010 after the longtime operator of the facility Gary Becker retired.
Lee Butz, chairman of construction management firm Alvin H. Butz Inc., was one of the people who worked to raise money to reopen it.
“I thought it was an amazing facility, and it was a crime to not have it in operation,” Butz said.
Local business leaders and politicians committed to fund “quite a bit more” than the original $175,000 goal for reopening, Butz said.
Butz used that money to start the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation’s Galaxy Fund to help maintain the Learning Dome and support other STEM programs in the district.
"We don't ever want to see that facility go dark again.”Lee Butz, chairman of construction management firm Alvin H. Butz
The facility reopened in 2019. Butz said at 90 years old, he is not sure he’ll be around to help raise the money in case the facility needs another upgrade.
“But the Galaxy Fund will be in existence," he said. "And if that happens — at some point it's going to happen — I'm sure that it will be addressed. Because we don't ever want to see that facility go dark again."
‘Like I was living the moment with them’
Lamisah, a Dieruff senior, said the Learning Dome is her favorite place in the school. She said she especially enjoyed an ROTC class taught there about the Air Force.
“It's like a movie theater in the school,” she said.
Logan, also a Dieruff senior, said he often stops by the Learning Dome to see what’s happening inside.
“I was able to watch how they did everything. I felt like I was there, with the scientists. Like I was living the moment with them."Alex, a Dieruff junior
“I’ve even been late to my classes a few times, I have to admit, just because I've been hanging out in there so much,” he said.
He's now learning how the technology works, and he sometimes helps Little with her classes.
Dieruff junior Alex said she wants to be an astronomer one day, and she recently was able to get a close-up look at the field at an event in the Learning Dome.
Scientists who worked on the shuttle that went to asteroid Bennu put on a presentation explaining the technology behind the spacecraft. It was projected live to dozens of planetariums across the country, and participants were able to ask the scientists questions.
“I was able to watch how they did everything," Alex said. "I felt like I was there, with the scientists. Like I was living the moment with them."
Little said the district is working out how other schools and community members can one day rent out the Learning Dome, as they used to at the planetarium.
But currently, the district is prioritizing making sure every Allentown School District student can access it.
