ECLIPSE SERVES AS HUGE TEACHING AID

Disappearance of the sun “a huge event” for students attending Front Range schools

A rare solar eclipse that will blacken the skies on Monday is making many educators giddy over all the learning that can be gleaned by walking outside, donning special glasses and looking up.

A rare solar eclipse that will blacken the skies over Colorado on Monday is making many educators giddy over all the learning that can be gleaned by just walking outside, applying nerdy looking eyewear and looking up.

Others will take “The Great American Solar Eclipse” indoors while watching on a computer screen, leery that a faulty piece of eyewear or any slip-up at all could permanently damage young eyes.

Bonnie Wilson is confident that at 11:46 a.m. Monday her students will be prepared for a safe viewing. She and the rest of the science department at Century Middle School in Thornton have studied the eclipse since July. They have been teaching kids the safest ways to view the disappearing sun since classes began last week.

It will culminate in an “all hands on deck” experience at Century, Wilson said.

“I think it is a huge event on many levels,” said Wilson, who teaches sixth-grade science. “And a safe party for 987 students is both rare and huge.”

While some schools on the Front Range are making the study of the eclipse an all-day event, some schools in the country and locally are opting to keep kids inside or are canceling school altogether over safety concerns.

Local school districts are not shutting down for the day but are leaving safety issues, such as whether students will be allowed outside, up to each school.

“Some Douglas County School District schools have made the decision to go outside with the proper safety glasses, while others have opted to learn about the eclipse while inside the classroom via livestream technology and other activities,” said Paula Hans, the district’s spokeswoman.

Parents are also welcome to pick up their child and view the eclipse as a family activity, Hans said. “This will be an excused absence.”

The eclipse is expected to be visible over Colorado at 11:46 a.m. It’s dubbed the “Great Solar Eclipse” because it is the first time since 1918 that a solar eclipse will be viewable on a path across the entire continental United States.

Experts say there will be a 93 percent partial solar eclipse over the Denver area.

The only moment it is safe to look at the eclipse is during the two to three minutes when the sun is completely behind the moon.

Before and after that — during the partial eclipse — special eclipse glasses or welder’s goggles must be worn when looking at the sun. Experts warn that the sun’s surface is so bright, staring at any portion of it can

permanently damage the retina.

Students at Century Middle School are constructing pinhole boxes, still the safest way of looking at the eclipse, Wilson said. Students who did not get a parent’s permission to view the eclipse outside will still be able to view the eclipse using NASA’s live camera broadcast from their classrooms.

Michelle Pearson, a social studies teacher at Century, has been showing her students newspaper headlines and old movie footage of past eclipses.

“We look at what they were worried about, what were their concerns,” Pearson said. “It’s a fascinating topic for these kids.”

The Denver area’s largest and smallest school districts are planning a full day of incorporating the eclipse into their science studies, thanks in part to donations from individuals, school groups and local companies.

At least 20,000 pairs of special safety glasses were donated to Denver Public Schools by Jeffrey Bennett, an astronomy professor at the University of Colorado. Several Parent Teacher Associations also bought glasses for their students, said DPS spokesman Will Jones.

The Cherry Creek School District is providing safety glasses for all of its 54,700 students, thanks to the Cherry Creek Foundation, and it is holding a solar eclipse lab day. Some Cherry Creek schools are launching weather balloons with cameras to record images of the eclipse from up high, said spokeswoman Abbe Smith.

Ball Aerospace engineer Phil Mehalko bought solar glasses for students in the Boulder Valley School District, while Ball Corporation provided matching funds, said Boulder Valley spokesman Randall Barber.

One pair of glasses will be available for every four students in the district Monday. But some schools have used their own funds or have found other donors to buy additional glasses, Barber said.

Students in Mapleton Public Schools will be able to view the eclipse after the district ordered 8,000 solar safety glasses for every student and staff member, said spokeswoman Lynn Setzer. King Soopers also donated $100 for the glasses.

“We wanted to make sure that our students could see this once-in-a-lifetime event,” said Mapleton Board president Ken Winslow. “We know how much excitement there is around the eclipse, and now our students won’t miss out because they don’t have a safe way to see it.”