Remembering Mark Kroska


Mark at Griegos Elementary, November 2002 

On Easter Sunday, 2004, TAAS educational activist Mark Kroska died from cancer.  Mark was one of the most selfless people that I have ever met, and one of the most active educational outreach people that TAAS has ever had.  When it came to bringing astronomy to kids, Mark was simply tireless.  No school was too far, no day was too long.  Mark would spend hours, working one-on-one with kids, giving his own time and energy freely.

Mark at Sierra Vista Elementary
January 2003
In 2001-2002, Mark spent countless hours giving shows in TAAS's StarLab portable planetarium.  Mark was fond of telling Native American stories of creation.

Mark at Navajo Elementary
March 2002
Mark liked hands-on activities, and was a wonderful teacher.  He would take a pre-made activity, like our spectral analysis demonstration, and give it his own twist.

Mark at Bosque School explaining wavelengths,
October 2002
Mark was a fun guy to be around. He cherished his time with the people of  TAAS, and will be missed by all.  Now he's a lot closer to the stars that he used to watch.

Sammy Lockwood
TAAS Education Chair

Please send your comments and memories of Mark to the webmaster, for possible posting to this page.

More Memories of Mark from Friends

Mark has been my Project Astro Astronomer for the past two years. It's really kind of funny because we are both astronomers and teachers.

If there ever was a "born" teacher it's Mark! He loved developing and teaching lessons so kids would, "get it!" as he would say.

Mark understood that teaching is a process of first enrolling and engaging the student in the topic (science of course, astronomy in
particular).

Mark designed his lessons from the student's point of view. He made the activities meaningful to the students' everyday life experience, thereby enabling the student to actually enroll themselves! (This is the secret to building lifelong learners.) Mark knew this secret and used it to turn kids onto science.


We may never know in what ways and certainly how many kids' imagination Mark ignited, but one thing we do know, his energy, enthusiasm, and zest for learning lives on in all the lives he touched.

Judy Stanley
I've known Mark Kroska in Landmark Education and in Chaos Club.  He loved to produce events, to organize things and see that they came off with impeccable integrity.

A charter member of the Chaos Club, he was our webmaster, and frequently our host.  He was mad for robots and fascinated by the Prisoner's Dilemma.

To really see Mark light up, you just needed to ask him about teaching kids.  This was his consuming passion.  Everything in the world fascinated him, and he wanted to enroll every child he met in that world of fascination.

Mark's legacy is a world of enthusiasm, fascination, and delight      

Mike Oliker, Chaos Club

Mark loved to explain and enlighten and serve others. I once had the privilege of encouraging Mark to overcome his resistance to dancing. It was late one Halloween night in the backyard of friends in Phoenix but I don't remember if stars were visible. The stars that night were the people, each of us committed to opening up our lives through improvisation and experimentation. I suggested Mark already knew how to jog so we began jogging in place and eventually waving our arms and bopping our heads. The twinkle in his eyes could light up the night sky and people with whom he came in contact. His boyish enthusiasm touched us all.

Vicki Gottlieb

My favorite memory of Mark, and the one that has really stuck, is of one evening following a TAAS Board meeting, when a bunch of us went to Denny's to get a bite to eat. Mark was sitting across from me, and I recall the group was involved in an intense head-banging discussion of some sort. At one point, I looked up and discovered that Mark had unwrapped two drinking straws and inserted one into each ear. He was just sitting there with the two straws protruding from his head like floppy antennae, and he made a face at me. It is good that I had not just taken a drink, because it would have come out my nose, for sure.  Mark was a very intense guy, but he was also in touch with his inner clown. It is hard to fathom that he is gone.

Karen Keese

...Mark really embraced me when I joined TAAS a few years ago.  We had a common interest, astrophotography, and spent some time at GNTO learning to use the camera equipment together.  He really supported my interest in the hobby, and seemed to like me, perhaps because he likes it when younger people get into astronomy in general and astrophotography in particular.

Keith Wiley

I had the good fortune to visit with Mark on Friday Nights at the UNM Observatory and his enthusiasm to share the sky with everyone who looked through his scope was something to behold.  All else aside, he brought civilization with him.   I will miss him.

Jim Lawrence

Mark Kroska Memorial Fund
Astronomy for Kids

Mark Kroska was committed to kids learning and having access to astronomy and science. As a memorial to Mark and his commitment to kids and astronomy, people may want to contribute to a fund which will be used to continue Mark’s vision. The objective of the memorial fund is to give kids the opportunity to experience astronomy and science first hand.

Donations will directly fund programs such as astronomy camp scholarships for kids and/or science teacher education programs.

Donations will be accepted through May 31, 2004. After the fund closes, Elaine Kroska will make the final determination as to which programs the funds will support. Checks should be made payable to “LodeStar Astronomy Center”. In the memo field of the check, enter “Mark Kroska’s Astronomy for Kids”.

Please Mail Checks to:
Mark Kroska’s Astronomy for Kids
c/o LodeStar Astronomy Center
1801 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque NM 87104

Funds will be administered through the UNM Foundation. All contributions will be recognized, and a receipt for tax purposes will be provided.

Photos by Nancy Davis and Sammy Lockwood

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