Eleven-year-old Mason Moon stared at the sky through cardboard glasses Monday as he as his classmates at Poplar Bluff Middle School gathered on the playground to watch the Great American Eclipse.
Moon separated himself from the other students to stand alone, his head tilted up and his hands holding the flimsy solar eclipse glasses to his face, as he watched, in awe, the moon's transit across the sun.
"I thought it was awesome," said Moon when it was over. "I thought it looked really cool."
From where he was standing, Moon had a perfect view of the sun and was close enough to the grass and trees near the edge of the playground to notice other aspects unique to nature's big event.
"When the eclipse was happening, when it went to 98 percent coverage, all the crickets started chirping like they would do at night," he said. School at Poplar Bluff began Thursday and Moon said in merely two days of classroom time, he has taken in a lot of information about the eclipse, the significance of Poplar Bluff's proximity to the line of totality, and the overall rarity of the event. When asked about the most interesting thing he learned, the sixth grader was unable to narrow it down.
"The neatest thing that I learned about this was everything," he said.
A renewed appreciation for science was shared by most of the 4th-6th graders, and even by the faculty and staff who participated in the viewing, as many of the post-eclipse responses included words like "awesome" and "cool."
Sixth graders Parker Hicks and Kolby Greenwall said the experience was "really cool," but it was "a little weird to see the sun like that."
"I'll be honest, I think the most interesting part is that it can hurt your eyes," Hicks said. "I kept my glasses on, I didn't want to take a chance on that."
Greenwall said watching the crescent's transposition from one side to the other was his favorite part and mentioned the drop in temperature, the change in lighting and the various evening sounds added to the experience as well.
Both students, and their classmates who were gathered around them, enthusiastically said they will be viewing the next total solar eclipse in April 2024.
Principal Dr. Brad Owings had his eclipse glasses on and was staring at the sky yesterday while the students filtered outside.
"This is, kind of, a once in a lifetime thing," Owings said. "I know it's supposed to happen again in seven years, but I wanted to take advantage of this unique opportunity."
Owings said teachers spent the first 2 1/2 days of school teaching the middle schoolers everything they needed to know to appreciate the experience.
Leslie Elledge teaches 5th grade math and science. She said her class spent Monday morning watching live feed from NASA, current national news coverage and the 38-year-old news feed from 1979 covering the last total solar eclipse to cross the United States.
"They have looked forward to coming outside all day," she said.
During most of the hustle and bustle, Barbara King's sixth grade class sat quietly on the playground steps, staying close to, but not immersed in the action. King, who teaches science, said her goal for Monday was to make sure her students took away "the total experience of real life."
"We loved it," several of them chimed in.
"I've never seen something historical like that," Jamaya Hamilton said.
Many of King's students mentioned the stages of the eclipse specifically, while others were more impacted by its effects on their environment. One student pointed out a slight change in smell he noticed, comparing it to smoke filtering in, while another said she couldn't stop looking up.
"It's so quiet now," King added. "There for a while, it was music."
After tossing a comment into the ring, each of King's students became quiet, as they sat side by side, some still looking up, reflecting on their experiences during the Great American Eclipse.