PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Retired science teacher Jack Bell has donated $95,000 to Calvert County Schools to be put toward reviving the Arthur Storer Planetarium. The gift will be used to purchase a Lambda 2 projection system from Digitalis Education Solutions Inc.
Bell worked in Charles County schools and spent his last decade as a teacher in that district’s planetarium. His late wife, Peggy, passed away in May and was also an educator. Peggy Bell taught pre-schoolers through adults in New York, Virginia, and Maryland and was certified in both special education and general teaching. Peggy Bell retired in 2019 after 37 years of teaching. Jack Bell said his wife was his inspiration as an educator, and that she donated her body to science so she could “continue teaching even after her death.”
“To further her teaching legacy, our children and I felt that a gift to the Arthur Storer Planetarium would not only honor her memory, but also invest in future generations of learners, allowing her impact to continue for decades to come,” Bell said in prepared remarks to the board.
Bell said the Storer Planetarium was immaculately preserved, but the equipment was 50 years old. The Lambda 2 projection system will turn the planetarium into an immersive, 360-degree theater. Bell has been working with the district to update the planetarium, and this projection system is the latest step in the revival project that will serve Calvert County students for years to come.
Both Bell and Dr. Crystal Ricks, supervisor of Gifted & Talented Education, Articulation, STEM & MESA, Robotics Competition, talked about the importance of STEM education and exposing rural students to these types of opportunities. Ricks said that when students gain access to high-quality STEM activities, it increases their chance of going into STEM fields by nearly 30%. Ricks described visiting the planetarium in Macon, Georgia, as a child, as an example of how these experiences can shape people and their career paths.
Bell ended the presentation by quoting astronomer Carl Sagan: “A planetarium is a celestial time machine, a portal to the universe where we can stand on the edge of the known and peer into the unknown, finding our place among the stars.”
The gift was swiftly confirmed by Board of Education (BOE) members at the Sept. 25 meeting, several of whom shared their gratitude and fond memories of trips to the planetarium. Ricks said they anticipate reopening the planetarium in spring 2026.
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