Local Schools Use Eclipse as a Measure in Safety, Learning

LUNENBURG – The solar eclipse came and went on Monday afternoon in Lunenburg without any reported incidents and offered teaching moments for area school children.

After hearing stories across the country of people who had their eyesight permanently damaged by looking directly at this fairly rare occurrence where the moon actually blocks out the sun for a brief period of time, safety was the first priority for Lunenburg County Public School officials.

While some other schools actually closed for the day, the local schools sent home a letter to parents outlining a plan to not only allow for safety to be the top priority of the Lunenburg students, but to have this become a learning experience as well.

In the letter is stated, “Lunenburg County Public Schools is taking precautionary measures to ensure student and staff safety. Statistics have shown that looking directly at the sun during an eclipse, even for a short time, can cause permanent vision damage. Therefore, Lunenburg County Public Schools is taking the following precautions to minimize any danger to students

Dismissal on Monday, August 21st will be delayed. Secondary schools will be dismissed at 3:45 p.m. and Elementary schools will be dismissed at 4:00 p.m.”

The idea was that this would essentially protect the local children and give the eclipse time to be completed before sending the children home on buses or outside where some of the curious children may look at the eclipse without protection.

While the precautions stick with the idea outlined by the school officials to have student safety as one of the top priorities, it also allowed teachers to use the day as a fun and educational experience.

Many teachers, had special “solar eclipse” learning activities, while others had the eclipse on television for students to see. Other teachers had solar glasses provided to allow students to go outside during the event and overall the experience proved to be both safe and fun.