A partial solar eclipse was visible Monday morning in northern San Luis Obispo County and some young students had a front row seat.
Over at The Friendship Garden Preschool in Atascadero, students enjoyed a special story about the solar eclipse before their teachers handed out special glasses so they could safely watch the eclipse.
“I think they really had fun getting engaged with wearing the glasses and getting to see the eclipse happen and kind of participate as a group together and such a special event," said Maggie Miles, owner of The Friendship Garden Preschool.
Miles and her co-teacher, Jojo Butler, enjoyed checking out the partial eclipse while the students worked on a coloring project outside, depicting the eclipse they had just witnessed.
"It was really neat for myself to be able to see it as well and watch it through the eyes of my students," Miles added. "Just getting to see the excitement on their faces and the joy watching them see the experience of something that is such a rare event.”
Over at Templeton High School, science teacher Benjamin Weinberger took his tutorial class out to view the eclipse. Instead of glasses, he taught them about the direction of the shadow effect using different tools.
“We used slotted spoons and then held it to the ground and let the sun go through the spoon, which has this perfect circle," Weinberger explained. "And then from the diffraction you can actually see the little bit of the crescent where the moon is lining up perfectly in between the sun and the Earth, and so you get to see that little chunk taken out.”
Weinberger also utilized the leaves on the trees outside that created different shadow effects on the ground as the eclipse passed.
The high school teacher also noted that experiencing the eclipse at a young age is extremely educational because it puts into perspective how the objects in the solar system can line up perfectly and create an effect on Earth.
"Me, personally, I never have [watched through the special glasses]," said Brittney Campbell, mother to a student at The Friendship Garden Preschool. "So it's super cool that she got to do it. And I was at work today, so the fact that the preschool did it for them I think is awesome."
