Provided/Star gazers at the William H. Ross Elementary School gather en masse for the near total eclipse of the sun, Monday, April 8, 2024.
MARGATE – Students at the William H. Ross Elementary School witnessed their science lessons come to life Monday, as they, along with mostly everyone else in the country, enjoyed watching the near total eclipse of the sun.
According to Principal Bonnie Marino, the school started researching several months ago how students can learn from the real time experience. First up was ensuring students were safe in watching the spectacle through high-quality black out glasses.
The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., donated the glasses for Ross students and staff. Additional glasses were procured for students at the Eugene A. Tighe Middle School from a NASA educator program located in Texas, Marino said.
All students in the district were involved in learning about solar eclipses in their science lessons leading up to the event. One way to educate the students about eclipses was using a large map of the moon that Marino obtained from the Buzz Aldrin SpaceShare Foundation.
On Monday afternoon, the Ross students lined up in the hallway and were guided by their teachers in small groups to view the solar eclipse in the schoolyard before they were dismissed for the day.
“Since students were dismissed during the eclipse, it was important to educate them about safely looking at it so they did not hurt their eyes,” Marino said. “This kids had a blast.”
