Students catch glimpses of solar eclipse
Published 3:30 pm Monday, April 8, 2024
Arianna McDaniel, a fourth grader at Brookhaven Elementary School, watches the eclipse outside with a special pair of glasses. Students had a chance to watch the eclipse unfold Monday. The next total solar eclipse won’t be visible in the southern US Until 2045. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)
Students shout and point as the solar eclipse peaks out behind thick cloud cover. Math and Science teacher Ayonna Brown-Johns reminded her students to keep their safety glasses on. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)
Brookhaven Elementary Students posed for this picture as they worried the sun would not peak out from behind cloud cover. A few minutes later they were celebrating glimpses of the eclipse. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)
A view of the total solar eclipse.
Fourth grade teacher Ayonna Brown-Johns taught her class about how total solar eclipses occur and the importance of safety ahead of viewing the event Monday. She described the experience as a once in a lifetime chance. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)
BROOKHAVEN — Shrill voices filled with joy and excitement carried across downtown Brookhaven Monday afternoon. The source of the cheers was a class of fourth grade students at Brookhaven Elementary School as they viewed a total solar eclipse.
BES math and science teacher Ayonna Brown-Johns reminded her class to keep their glasses on as the children craned their necks for a peak at a special celestial event. Shouts of celebration and glee came with each moment the sun and moon peaked out from a curtain of clouds.
At first, it looked like the students would not get a chance to view the eclipse. They scanned the dark, storm cloud filled sky for any hope of light. Wind pushed clouds along and eventually offered a break in them for students to see them.
“Can you see it?” one student asked, “I see green in my glasses,” said another, “the clouds are moving again,” another student exclaimed. “I saw something,” one yelled, “I saw the smallest bit,” another student said.
A collective shout of “Yay!” came with the first clear view of the total eclipse. “It is so beautiful,” a little girl said. “Once in a lifetime,” said a young boy.
Brown-Johns took a chance to educate the class “Notice how it is getting closer and closer to totality.” Arianna McDaniel, a fourth grade student, described the opportunity to view the eclipse during school as fun. Thankfully, the weather cooperated to allow for some sights of the eclipse.
“It is amazing. I’ve never seen it before,” she said. “I can see it very clearly with the glasses. It makes me happy. I’m glad I can see it now.”
Rain started to spit out of the sky as Brown-Johns explained she had taught her class about how an eclipse of the sun works. They had watched USA Today coverage of the eclipse beginning in Mexico and went over safety before going outside to watch the event.
“It is an important experience. It is a once in a lifetime event. I wanted them to have a chance to see it,” Brown-Johns said. “I was worried about cloud coverage today. We were frantically searching for the eclipse. I’m glad we got a chance to see it.”
The best opportunity for Mississippi to see a total eclipse of the sun will be August 12, 2045. After then, total eclipses will be visible again for the southern US in 2078 and 2099.
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