Featured photo by Ashley Martinez
Story by Bailey Brantingham
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Students around the city gathered on school lawns and blacktops to view the solar eclipse on Monday after Murfreesboro City Schools issued a statement saying they would remain open.
Worries were raised in all aspects of student safety after the decision, with many parents concerned that children would remove their school-issued viewing glasses and damage their eyes.
Murfreesboro City Schools assured parents that the decision to remain open came with weeks of careful planning and efforts to keep the safety and experience of the students at the top of their priority list.
“We had an amazing experience with the eclipse. Parents were given the ability to opt their children out of viewing the eclipse if they chose. All students received solar glasses and were given instructions on proper use,” said Murfreesboro City Schools Director of Communications Lisa Trail.
Many district schools invited parents to accompany their children during the eclipse viewing but required that all students remained with their teacher or assigned adult in order to maintain viewing and safety protocols.
“A lot of parents don’t know what it is, so it’s better for them to be in school during that time so they can have that learning experience rather than being at home and not knowing what really is going on,” said Ashley Martinez, parent of a first-grader at Salem Elementary School. “Not just ‘Oh, the moon is covering the sun,’ but how and why? What’s the science and math behind it?”
Along with the priority to keep children safe during the viewing, the district and like-minded parents aimed to maintain the priority of making the most out of the solar eclipse for young minds. Educators and district officials worked together to turn the eclipse into an event students could not only see, but understand and learn from as well.
“He came home to me already understanding that taking his glasses off was a very important thing,” Martinez said. “So, when he told me that, being a six-year-old, I knew that this was going to be a safe event for the kids to enjoy with friends and, you know, being at school to learn all about the eclipse.”
From throwing Moon Pie parties to creating and coloring constellations, students came together to not only celebrate the rare event, but to understand and appreciate the thing they won’t see again for another two decades.
Bailey Brantingham is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
To contact News Editor Alyssa Williams and Assistant News Editor Zoe Naylor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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