MILWAUKEE, WI - For Starms Discovery Learning Center on Milwaukee's northwest side, the solar eclipse was more than just a one-day event.
The students spent the first week of school learning all about an eclipse and even presented projects demonstrating their knowledge.
"I'm very excited," said Shauntiona Smallwood. “I’m glad that I’m actually here to actually see it.”
The Fifth-grade student Smallwood and her classmates spent a number of days researching and studying in preparation for Monday. MPS provided eclipse glasses to all early start calendar schools and some curriculum ideas for teachers in different content areas.
The district also distributed a letter to parents, safety guidelines, and lesson plan ideas for teachers. The school then gave students a chance to move from the classroom to the playground to gaze at solar eclipse 2017 with their safety solar eclipse shades.
“It is so exciting," Dr. Janice Pugh said. "The kids are loving it.”
According to Pugh, this once in a lifetime experience really helped kick off the new school year in pretty exciting way—piquing her students' interest in science and the solar system in a way she hasn’t been able to do before.
"This was a great opportunity for a lot of the students here at this school and they are learning so much about this project," Pugh said. "They’re learning so much about the experience of having an eclipse around us. It’s just great. It’s just so awesome."
