A Solar Celebration

On Monday, April 8, WSD observed “The Great American Eclipse” with a schoolwide solar celebration. Teachers set the stage by introducing solar eclipses to their students, and then everyone gathered in designated areas on the playground. Lower School Principal Elizabeth Phillips welcomed teachers and students, emceed the event, and got the party started!

On the playground, each grade was grouped with its older “buddy” grade. Older students used a paper plate with one pin hole to teach younger students how to cast the image of the eclipse onto a white piece of paper. Together they watched the shadow of the moon “partially” block the sun. In the background, a soundtrack of eclipse-appropriate tunes – “Eclipse” (Pink Floyd), “Black Hole Sun,” (Soundgarden), “Ain’t No Sunshine,” (Bill Withers) and others – played loud enough for students to sing or dance along.

The students loved participating! Peak viewing time was 12:32pm and participants were able to watch through solar eclipse glasses. Today’s total eclipse was unusually accessible to millions of people and nearly everyone across America (weather permitting) was able to see at least a partial eclipse. Students at WSD had clear skies and saw 50% of the sun covered by the moon. “We know that events like these can take precious minutes away from lesson plans,” explains Middle School Principal Scott Stewart, “but sometimes we have to do stuff that’s fun!”