Students gaze into a celestial classroom

Apr. 5—Monday's solar eclipse offers a rare opportunity to incorporate the experience into science and astronomical education, and school districts throughout Mercer County are taking advantage of the opportunity.

The eclipse's zone of totality is expected to pass over northwestern Mercer County as it travels in a southwest to northeast trajectory across the United States.

Hermitage

At Hermitage School District, fourth- and fifth-graders will participate in some eclipse-themed activities, while the remainder of the district will dismiss two hours early, Superintendent Dr. Dan Bell said.

This will give the students a chance to enjoy the eclipse at home and be off the school buses by the time the eclipse passes over, shortly after 3 p.m., Bell said.

Fourth-grade teachers Kristin Malenky and Amber Haywood at Ionta Elementary School in Hermitage said their preparation for the eclipse began last spring, when the teachers realized the eclipse was coming and applied for a grant through Grove City College.

This led to a "solar eclipse academy" offered last year as part of the Hermitage School District's Summer Academy program, Haywood said.

"Students learned how to make solar viewing glasses, they had an experiment with solar energy where they used lenses to pop balloons, they did a lot of fun experiments," Haywood said.

The grant also allowed Ionta's students to take a field trip to Westminster College in March, where the students watched a show in the college's planetarium and learned from Dr. Matteo Luisi, Malenky said.

"There were some students in the planetarium who were surprised at how much we can view the moon and constellations once you take away the atmosphere, and they realized how close we are to things in space," Malenky said.

Students from Grove City College organized further lessons about the sun, moon and eclipse as well, while donations from the community helped the teachers buy other learning materials for the students. This included viewing glasses for the fourth- and fifth-graders.

While Malenky and Haywood said they were both hoping for good weather, they also encouraged other school districts to use Westminster's planetarium and science department.

"A lot of the kiddos said that they'd never been to a planetarium before, and we couldn't believe we had that kind of resource so close to us," Haywood said.

Even if the weather is cloudy, Malenky said NASA will stream the eclipse on its website, although the real excitement will be for the students and staff to experience the eclipse together.

"Some of us adults have experienced partial eclipses, but for some of this kids it will be a totally new experience for them, and we don't always get those opportunities when teaching," Malenky said.

West Middlesex

At West Middlesex Area School District, the high school students will dismiss early about 1 p.m., while elementary students will remain at school for a watch party, Superintendent Raymond Omer said.

"Our high school students have a little more understanding of what the eclipse is, so we figured they could organize their own activities at home, while for the elementary students, we could make it more of a fun, educational event," Omer said.

There will be multiple activities and classes incorporating the eclipse in the days leading up to the event, Omer said.

"Our thought process behind this was that this is an educational opportunity for a once-in-a-lifetime event," Omer said.

Reynolds

Reynolds School District will use April 8 as an Act 80 non-instruction day, giving the students the opportunity to watch the eclipse at home, Omer said.

Omer serves as superintendent of West Middlesex and Reynolds schools through a shared services agreement.

Mercer

Mercer Area School District moved an in-service day from April 19 to April 8, giving students the opportunity to enjoy the eclipse with their families, Superintendent Dr. Ronald Rowe Jr. said.

Since the eclipse's totality will take place around the same time as normal dismissal, Rowe said rescheduling the in-service day seemed like a safer option for the district's students.

However, students have been participating in eclipse-themed activities prior to the event itself, not only in their science classes, but across other courses, such as reading and math, as well.

The students in kindergarten through eighth grade also received solar eclipse glasses for them to safely view the eclipse at home, Rowe said.

"We're trying to keep this exciting for the students. It's educational, but we have some different activities that use the eclipse as a jumping point," Rowe said.

Sharpsville

Sharpsville Area School District will celebrate the eclipse with a series of early dismissals to allow students to enjoy the eclipse at home with their families.

The middle and high schools will dismiss at 12:30 p.m., while the elementary school will dismiss at 1:20 p.m., according to a post on the school district's Facebook page.

When planning what to do on April 8, Sharpsville school Superintendent John Vannoy said district officials looked at two main factors — what activities were planned at local venues, such as nearby Buhl Park, and giving families the opportunity to enjoy the eclipse together.

Buhl Park

Buhl Park in Hermitage is planning a "Total Eclipse of the Heart" event, which will feature music at the park's Performing Arts Center amphitheater and offer snacks at the nearby Cabin Cafe.

Travel safety was also a concern, since the eclipse's totality will occur shortly after 3 p.m., Vannoy said.

"We wanted to give our families a chance to do something together with their kids, and the peak of the totality in our area is going to be right around our normal elementary dismissal, so we wanted to avoid that chaos too and get our kids home safely," Vannoy said.

Vannoy said Sharpsville will offer some educational projects, including some activities that will feature the high school science classes working with their elementary classmates.

"This is a very unique event, so we wanted to have some activities planned for the students," Vannoy said.

Grove CityIn Grove City, environmental conservation and biology teacher Nathan Barber will lead instruction about the eclipse for kids.

Barber has prepared a special lesson for his conservation students to explain the science behind the eclipse. He has also purchased eclipse glasses for his students.

"He did that all out of the goodness of his heart. He paid for the glasses, it's his gift." Grove City High School Principal Brendan Smith said. "We have taken a more informal route than some schools, but Barber definitely stepped up."

The school will also be dismissing its students two hours early to ensure students can watch the eclipse from home.

"I know that when the eclipse is at its peak, most of our students will be on the bus or traveling home and might miss it," Superintendent Jeffery Finch said. "This is a way to ensure that kids can go watch it with their families."

Slippery Rock

In Slippery Rock, the school district did not change its schedule, opting instead to incorporate the eclipse into lesson plans.

"About a month ago most of the science teachers in our district, elementary through high school, started to work on different ways to teach the kids about it," Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci said. "We really want to emphasize not just the science but also the safety of the eclipse."

Children in the elementary schools will be learning songs, doing activity books and watching videos to help learn about the eclipse. All elementary students will also be receiving a pair of glasses courtesy of several parent organizations.

Middle school kids will have groups of students collect data on the light intensity, UV-B rays, and color spectrum analysis for their science classes.

Like David L. Dye on Facebook or email him at ddye@sharonherald.com.