A recent "home and away" pair of winter events gave several dozen Wapato Middle School students a look at waves and LIGO. A January 27 visit to the school by LHO outreach coordinator Dale Ingram provided hands-on experiences with several types of periodic motion, and the February 7 reverse trip presented the students with LIGO's versions of periodic behavior through exhibits, an auditorium discussion and a tour of the site.

GEAR UP Coordinator Martin Guillen arranged the visits with the help of Yakima Valley GEAR UP Project-Parent Coordinator Rebecca Bly. The 6th-grade science classes of Ms. Imperial and Ms. Gonzales participated in both sides of the exchange, and the 7th-grade science class of Mr. Alvords took part in the school activity. The Yakima Valley GEAR UP program, headed by the University of Washington, is one of the largest rural GEAR UP partnerships in the U.S., serving hundreds of students and families in schools across a 500-square mile region of central Washington.

At LHO, staff scientist Michael Landry provided a 40-minute talk on the science of gravitational wave detection. From his station in the control room Corey Gray shared some of the secrets of the care and feeding of large interferometers. Students squeezed in a bit of lunch along with these activities and some explorations with Colored Shadows, the Gravity Well and other exhibits.