By Darrell Upright and the PCS Introduction Journalism Class
Tuesday night, Pavilion Central School hosted its first-ever full-district community event, “Eclipse Learning Night,” in preparation for the April 8 total solar eclipse.
Hosted nearly two weeks before the celestial occurrence, 400 students and their families mobbed the Middle-High school’s gymnasium, auditorium, and library and visited participating classrooms that sponsored eclipse-related activities. All told, more than 600 people attended the event, held from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
Planned by the science department staff and an ad hoc committee that started preparations in October, the event was a success for the school.
“This exceeded expectations for attendance and involvement,” said Mr. Brian Mullin, English 12 teacher.
Among the activities visited by students on Tuesday night were two presentations by Dr. Aaron Steinhauer, professor of Astronomy at SUNY Geneseo; the Star Lab, a portable planetarium in the school’s auditorium; readings by PCS staff of Colleen Onuffer’s “Genny Sees the Eclipse” (illustrated by Andy Reddout); the Middle-High School Book Fair; Trivia Night; concessions from Papa Roni’s and Yummie’s Ice Cream from Warsaw – who sold a special flavor created for the event, Gopher Galaxy; and teacher-and-student-created presentations and displays to inform the public about the eclipse featuring work from students in grades Kindergarten to 12.
Students and family members also received eclipse glasses at the event.
“We’re doing this prior to the eclipse for the community,” said Dr. Amanda Cook, the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, who planned the event with the Science Department and committee members. “From a safety standpoint, there was a concern that the public may not be familiar with” some of the dangers associated with a full solar eclipse: severe injury to the retina if viewers don’t use filtered glasses.
“We want to share the significance of a very rare event,” she added. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.”
Many of the students’ projects capitalized on the eclipse's importance.
According to “GeneSEE the Eclipse,” the Genesee County web page (https://visitgeneseeny.com/2024-eclipse) informing residents about it, the last full solar eclipse visible in our area was in 1925, and the next will take place in 2144.
Attendees were enthused by the event. “I like science personally, so I like it so far. It’s great for us (in the PCS district) because we don’t have to go anywhere” to learn about the eclipse, said 10th grader Jackson True while doing the PCS English Department’s “blackout poetry” exercise, one of numerous activities planned by school staff.
According to the “GeneSEE the Eclipse” web page, the Monday, April 8th event will darken the sky in Genesee County, which is directly in the “path of totality.” People will experience 3 minutes and 42 seconds of full eclipse beginning at 3:19 p.m. and a partial eclipse for nearly two and a half hours.
Photos by Darrell Upright
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Introduction to Journalism class at Pavilion Central Schools is taught by Michael Iten and is, as far as we know, the only Intro to Journalism class in Genesee County.
