About

William "Bill" Hill

• 1974 - 1979
• Waubonsie Valley High School (WVHS) opened in September 1975.
• Bill was the first science department chair at WVHS. He oversaw the construction of the planetarium and the installation of its equipment.
• Bill implemented field trip programs for surrounding schools and created interdisciplinary presentations for WV students. For example, he and a social studies teacher created an Ancient Egypt planetarium presentation for social studies classes in 1978.
• After a 35-year career as a public school teacher, Mr. Hill retired in 1979.

Dr. Jeffery Hunt

• 1979-1996
• Jeff started at WVHS as an astronomy and physics teacher in the science department. He developed public programs to demonstrate the tremendous possibilities of the star projector.
• In 1996, Dr. Hunt became the Instructional Technology Director for Indian Prairie School District 204 (IPSD 204). He retired in 2011.

Mary Schindewolf Masui

• 1996-2006
• Mary, who had a bachelor's degree in physics, was hired by Dr. Hunt as the first full-time planetarium coordinator. At that time, the planetarium was part of the Instructional Technology department. She developed field trip programs for the elementary science curriculum in IPSD 204.
• Mary later earned a master's in education and a teaching certificate to teach high school science courses for the WV science department.

Stephanie Gove Rybka

• 2006-present
• Stephanie, a certified science teacher, was hired by Dr. Hunt as the first planetarium director. She was a full-time director until the 2009-10 school year when the role was split between the planetarium (40%) and teaching high school science (60%).
• In 2013, the planetarium became part of the core curriculum department for the district. At the time, the science curriculum in IPSD 204 was changing to align with the new state science standards called the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). As a result, Stephanie created planetarium field trip lessons for the science curriculum across all grade levels (K-12).
• Rybka applied and was selected as a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador starting in 2023.
• Email

The WVHS Planetarium was selected by NASA to participate in a national unveiling of a new image of the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101). Only 118 locations were selected across the United States. On February 20, 2009 four hundred people participated in the unveiling event held at Waubonsie Valley High School. Read the Daily Herald article published on February 5, 2009. The new image permanently hangs in the planetarium for visitors to enjoy.

The Naperville Astronomical Association & the WVHS Planetarium celebrated the International Year of Astronomy 2009 with A DAY OF ASTRONOMY on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009. The free public event included exhibits from Adler Planetarium, FermiLabs, SciTech, NAA, and Illinois Coalition for Residential Outdoor Lighting. Activities included lectures, planetarium programs, workshops, telescope observations, door prizes, etc. Several hundred visitors of all ages participated in the event.

The WVHS Planetarium celebrated its 40th Anniversary during the 2015-16 school year. Read the Naperville Sun's article about the event. The planetarium hosted a Night of Science on Friday March 3rd, 2016. Several hundred visitors sang 'Happy Birthday' to Big Blue Guy with blue iced cupcakes.

Naperville Sun Article about the Total Solar Eclipse on August 21, 2017.

Western Suburban Living article about Stephanie Rybka's path to becoming a planetarium director.

Read Naperville Sun article about the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21, 2020.

The WVHS Planetarium celebrates its 45th Anniversary virtually. Read the Naperville Sun's article published on December 24, 2020. Due to the pandemic, the planetarium was closed to in-person visitors from March 2020 to September 2022.

Naperville Community Television (NCTV17) featured the planetarium's public programs called 'Family Nights'. Watch the NCTV17 video released on November 10, 2023.

Waubonsie Valley High School's Planetarium is a Cosmic Classroom. Read the Naperville Magazine's article published on April 12, 2024.