On April 8, a solar eclipse could be seen across North America. The last time this happened was back on Aug. 21, 2017. To see this solar eclipse, the schedule for classes was altered to make time for students and staff to see the eclipse.
Students all collected their glasses in preparation for what many thought was a total eclipse, like the area experienced as part of the path of totality 6.5 years ago. The anticipation grew as the moon moved more in front of the sun, and then the students realized that they were not getting a total solar eclipse like the one they remembered from last time.
“I was [upset]. I wanted a full one, I thought it was a full one,” senior Mikayla Dimick said.
Some of the excitement went away after it didn’t go fully dark. This didn’t happen in Kansas City because it wasn’t in the path of totality like Cape Girardeau, MO was.
Unlike the total eclipse the area experienced in 2017, this year’s solar eclipse was a little more disappointing for the students of Platte County High School.
“The most that happened during the last eclipse was everything got dark and cold for a few minutes,” senior Basil Renfrow said.
Some students were mumbling and complaining about the experience and the dropping temperature.
“What was the point of even coming out here? What a waste of time.” sophomore Saige Dickens asked.
While some students did not enjoy the experience, others found joy in the moment, coming up with what the sun resembled, much like when you try to determine shapes out of clouds.
“The more I stare through the glasses the more the sun looks like a banana to me and it looks like it’s getting bigger,” junior Brock Myers said.
Solar eclipses happen quite often but a total solar eclipse, meaning the moon fully covers the sun, is a rare phenomenon based on your location. One does not regularly occur in the U.S., so traveling out of the country to view this occurrence is quite common. Crystal Busch, math teacher, has expressed interest in traveling to Spain in the 2040s, where the next total eclipse is said to happen.
“I’ll definitely try to get to a place that has totality at some point in my life so I could try to see it again without the clouds,” Busch said.
