The Day the Sun Disappeared

Liberty kicks off the 2017-18 by witnessing an eclipse

Melana Quarles, Sarah Martin, and Olivia Holler
August 21, 2017

Students are taught that staring at the sun isn’t a good idea. However, today was an exception, as long as you’re wearing your protective eyewear.

Alyssa Fay
Students and teachers gathered outside to witness the eclipse. Students were given protective eyewear so they could begin watching the event at 12:45 p.m.

For the first time in 38 years, people all around the United States had the chance to witness an eclipse first hand.

Students at Liberty were provided protective eyewear and had the chance to go outside to experience the eclipse. Kona Ice was available for purchase during the event.

Alisha Grant
Students gathered on the bleachers at the football field to witness their very first partial eclipse while waiting for the path of totality.

As the students walked to the football field, there were multiple chalk drawings on the sidewalks for them to view, provided by Mrs. Biere’s drawing classes.

 

LHS Staff
The last portion of the sun is exposed creating the diamond ring effect before the it reaches complete totality.

Liberty High School and Frontier Middle were the best spots to be in the district for the totality of the eclipse. The eclipse started at 11:45 a.m. The totality began at 1:16 p.m. at Liberty and lasted about a 1 minute and 14 seconds.

During totality, the sky was not pitch black, but looked more like dusk.

This was an educational experience for many of the students since Liberty have not had an eclipse in their lifetime.

Alyssa Fay
Students at Liberty roared with anticipation while waiting for the eclipse to reach totality. Many began stomping on the school bleachers showing more spirit than many teachers had ever seen.

“Everybody’s really excited, some are pretty scared because they don’t know what’s going to happen.” junior Zoe Killingsworth said.

Some of the students even took matters into their own hands and were very intrigued by the eclipse.

Junior Zach Goettling used a camera to capture the event. “I’ve always admired the sun and the moon,” Goettling said. “By taking pictures, I get to capture the moment.”

Many students commented on the humid and scorching heat outside before the eclipse, but began to be relieved when at 1:06 p.m., the temperature had already dropped eight degrees.

Alyssa Fay
Math teachers Ms. Schmidt and Ms. Gault witnessed the partial eclipse while waiting for the sun to reach totality.

Several teachers used today to learn about the eclipse with the students. Mrs. Tarrant-Oliphant took advantage of the eclipse and played Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album.

“I think it’s really neat, and it’s a once in a lifetime event. It’s hard to grasp how cool it will be because none of us have seen one,” Mrs. Tarrant-Oliphant said. “ I think that once we see it people will be more understanding of why it was such a big deal.”

Other teachers weren’t as impressed. An especially disappointed teacher, Mr. Walterbach, even went as far as to nickname it the “total let-down eclipse.”

Eric Mason
At 1:16 p.m. the eclipse reached totality and the sky went dark. The students began to take off their glasses and experience the eclipse.

He said, “It was cool to see the moon move,” but he was disappointed when it wasn’t “pitch black.”

The total eclipse was more exciting for students than they thought it would be. After all, it is a once-in a lifetime-experience.