On April 8th, the United States experienced a solar eclipse. This solar eclipse has affected all of the United States in one way or another. Many people traveled to places in Maine or Texas to view the total solar eclipse. Others have bought solar eclipse glasses to see a partial solar eclipse. Overall, this eclipse has brought something new for everyone. One school that has done something special to commemorate this eclipse is Trinity Prep.
The school had two ways to celebrate this. The first is providing solar eclipse glasses to all the students on campus, and the second, is to create a trip to Dallas, Texas where a total solar eclipse happens.
At the end of the school day on April 8th, Trinity Prep students received glasses to view the solar eclipse. The students were ecstatic about this eclipse because there had not been an eclipse in about 9 years. At 3:03 when the eclipse hit in Florida, all the students went into the quad to see the sun in their newly acquired solar eclipse glasses
These glasses were provided by the school and were used to view the solar eclipse. At 2:50, the students were released from their classes, five minutes early, and received their glasses from their advisor to prepare for the eclipse happening in Florida.
These glasses were bought months prior because Dr. Mortimer, a science teacher, asked the administration because she had shown interest in this upcoming eclipse and wanted to prepare for it.
The solar eclipse only goes on a path called the path of totality. The path of totality was the line in which you could see a full eclipse. It goes from Texas to Maine in a line. The students in Florida were not in the path of totality. In Florida, only about 60% of the sun was covered. However, in the path of totality, everything goes black as the moon entirely covers the sun.
Dr. Mortimer, a science teacher in Trinity Prep decided that she wanted to go to Texas to experience this once-in-a-decade experience. She brought twenty-eight students in high school to Texas to experience the eclipse.
Through the trip the students visited important points of interest in Texas and visited Six Flags, an amusement park. Near the end of the trip, all of the students went to a ranch and watched the total solar eclipse.
One of these students was a 9th grader named Salvatore Marcissiano.
“Being plunged into complete darkness was pretty cool” said Marcissiano.
The main aspect of the trip to Texas was being in the path of totality, where only 32 million Americans will experience this. In the path of totality, everything goes black because the moon fully covers the sun. This gives a different experience to the kids because instead of seeing the eclipse halfway, they can experience it fully.
Although the trip was enjoyable, disaster still struck. During the eclipse, it was very cloudy. The cloudiness impeded the students’ vision and they could not see the eclipse as well, but the cloudiness did not impede the darkness that came with the eclipse.
“I would definitely like to experience that again” said Marcissiano.
Marcissiano had talked about how eye-opening that trip was and that he would love to see the eclipse again, if he had the chance. He said, this trip was the experience of a lifetime. He also explained that this was the first time he saw a total solar eclipse and that it was a great moment.
The eclipse brought something new to Trinity Prep whether it was glasses to view the eclipse or a whole new trip to Texas, something came out of this eclipse, benefiting all the students and the school. The students got to learn about science while looking at the eclipse, or being plunged into complete darkness.
