Celestron Runs the World at Girltopia

When it comes to friendships, Celestron and the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) share a relationship that has reached a golden level, to borrow a line from the Girl Scouts’ famous friendship song. And as the Girl Scouts have become increasingly passionate advocates of STEM and getting girls interested in science careers, it’s a partnership that has only grown more fruitful. Every year, it all culminates at GSGLA’s massive Girltopia event, and this year was no different. On Saturday, November 9, the Los Angeles Convention Center was transformed into the “World of Girl” as almost 10,000 enthusiastic Girl Scouts poured into the convention hall for a day of learning, fun, and friendship.

Celestron had a front-row seat in STEM Village, the green-tinted exhibit devoted to all things science—and which was conveniently located across the aisle from Cookie University, providing several sugar rushes for our intrepid employees. We arrived with plenty of crowd-pleasing activities in store, as our Cometron 114AZ, AstroMaster 70AZ, and SkyProdigy 6 provided views of the overhead catwalks. (Nobody said trying to showcase telescopes indoors was easy!) A wide range of binoculars was also a big hit: with a live stage show going on all day, the girls thoroughly enjoyed passing around the binocular—especially the giant-in-small-hands Cometron 12x70—to get an up-close view of the stage from over a hundred feet away.

But the star of the show was the digital microscope display, featuring a live ant farm as well as Celestron’s new 3D bug specimens. The day was punctuated with many choruses of “Wows,” “Oooohs,” and “Ewwws” as the girls got up close and personal with members of the insect kingdom, before turning the Handheld Digital Pro Microscope, Deluxe Handheld Digital Microscope, and Portable LCD Digital Microscope on their own hair and skin. Little lab technicians also enjoyed swapping out slides on the LCD Digital Microscope II biological microscope, while proud parents looked on.

The excitement came to a head in the afternoon when it was time for the raffle. A swarm of girls of all ages crowded into Celestron’s booth, audibly squealing at every name drawn, until three lucky winners emerged to collect a Cometron FirstScope and two Deluxe Handheld Digital Microscopes.

Every year, Girltopia rushes by in a high-energy blur, but it reminds us of the joy of being a kid again, while also giving us the thrill of watching a new generation of STEM advocates discover the fun of scientific exploration. One feeling is silver, but the latter is definitely gold.

-Lauren Stracner
Assistant Marketing Manager