VIDEO: Eclipse excites Bentonville students

Ken Wesley, 12, watches the eclipse with his classmates Monday at Ardis Ann Middle School in Bentonville.
Ken Wesley, 12, watches the eclipse with his classmates Monday at Ardis Ann Middle School in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- A burnt chicken nugget. A clipped toenail. A cat smiling.

In between a chorus of "oohs," "ahhs" and "wows," these are some of the ways Ardis Ann Middle School students described the sun during Monday's solar eclipse.

See it again

The next solar eclipse visible within the United States will occur April 8, 2024. Its path of totality will include central Arkansas.

Source: Staff report

"It looked so cool I didn't even want to go inside," said Landon Gibson, an Ardis Ann sixth-grader. "It looked like the crescent sun."

Landon, like all other students in the Bentonville School District, was allowed outside to view the eclipse. The district provided protective eyewear free after ordering 20,000 pairs of glasses at a cost of about $6,600.

The middle school has about 600 students in fifth and sixth grades. Parents of 23 of them decided their children would not view the eclipse, according to Reid Pierce, assistant principal.

Northwest Arkansas was not in the path of totality, but about 92 percent of the sun was obscured at the peak.

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Caterina McConnell, a freshman at the University of Arkansas, looks through a pair of eclipse viewing glasses Monday to watch the solar eclipse with friends at the Union Mall on the campus of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The Associated Student Government hosted a free cookout on campus and handed out the specially designed glasses, courtesy of the Pat Walker Health Center and Mertins Eye and Optical, to students and faculty for the eclipse.

Maison Laughter, 10, a fifth-grader, said he thought it looked "dusty" outside as the eclipse hit its peak at 1:12 p.m. and the sky turned slightly darker.

"It's, like, really weird. It's darker and dusty. I can't really explain it," Maison said.

"It's like a giant banana!" Jessie Zortman, 11, shouted.

Nearby, fellow sixth-grader Lilian Payne, 10, agreed.

"I don't know how to say it, but it's just really cool," Lilian said. "I like the color. It's just really bright."

Her 11-year-old cousin, Cassidy Jenkins, described it as a "highlighter color, but lighter."

Some students stood, a few laid on the ground gazing upward.

Kathy Hancock, who teaches science and social studies, took a group of sixth-graders outside about 11:45 a.m., just as the moon started blocking the sun.

"We've made a big deal about it so (students) would get excited about it," Hancock said. "They're awed by the fact I've already seen one."

Hancock said she'd told students to keep their glasses because one day they'll be telling their own children about it.

"And they'll have this technology to compare to what their kids are doing to see a solar eclipse with their technology," she said. "So it's kind of like a little time capsule thing."

Joyce Dooley, who also teaches science and social studies, wore a T-shirt with a sequined NASA logo, a souvenir she picked up from a week of teacher training in Houston several years ago.

Dooley spent time during one class period discussing what some ancient cultures thought about solar eclipses.

"For instance, in Vietnam the people believed a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the sun," she told students. "The Vikings blamed wolves for eating the sun. In ancient China, a celestial dragon was thought to lunch on the sun."

Ellie Tolbert, a Bentonville High School senior, spent time in Dooley's classroom teaching students about eclipses. Tolbert, 17, is part of the education strand of Bentonville's Ignite program, which immerses students in real experiences in a professional environment with support from a facilitating teacher and professional mentors.

Ignite education students fanned out across the district Monday to give eclipse lessons. Dooley volunteered to host Tolbert in her classroom.

"It's a pretty good experience so far," Tolbert said.

She said she wants to teach kids at a lower level than middle school, but sees value in getting a wide range of experience.

"This is really cool, the fact I'm out here and being able to teach this young, being able to do this before I get out of high school," Tolbert said.

NW News on 08/22/2017

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