On Monday, August 21, 2017 Armuchee High School as a whole witnessed a historic, once-in-a-lifetime event thanks to the help of Berry College for supplying the viewing glasses. On that afternoon, FCS delayed dismissal by thirty minutes because parts of southeastern United States experienced a total solar eclipse. Floyd County experienced a blockage of the sun for most of the afternoon hours with the maximum blockage being around 2:34 P.M. The district said that a thirty minute dismissal delay would allow for better supervision of students. During the total solar eclipse, the Earth, sun, and the moon aligned; the moon moved between the sun and Earth, blocking the sun’s light. This resulted in the moon casting a shadow on the Earth and creating the darkness.

The FCS Superintendent, Dr. John Jackson said, “This will be a historic event! In addition to addressing safety concerns associated with the eclipse, the delay will provide more time for us to make this special educational event for our students, allowing us to organize a variety of safe activities related to this meteorological phenomenon.”

Senior Erin Carney and Sophomore Chloe Pledger said the eclipse was not what they expected it to be. Carney said, “I was disappointed that it did not get very dark.” Sophomore Jacob Smith said, “I was a little disappointed that I was not able to see the full eclipse, but it was definitely a great experience to witness part if the eclipse.”

AHS Principal John Rhodarmer wanted to make sure he was able to offer this opportunity to the school without anyone getting hurt. He and the staff took many safety precautions to make sure the viewing cards were certified to view the sun during the eclipse and made sure the campus was secure.

Like many students Junior Blake Abney and Carney would have rather been home early instead of stay at school longer when the eclipse happened, but they understood it was for their safety, as well for all of their peers. Before experiencing the eclipse, Carney said, “I am excited because it will be the first and last eclipse I will see in my lifetime.” Abney thought since it will be mostly dark outside when the eclipse happened it might have caused power complications resulting in confusion to animals considering many outside lights are solar powered. Freshman Madison Burton was excited to see what happened during a total solar eclipse even though she would only get to see 97% coverage of it. Potentially the eclipse could change anyone’s everyday life. Just by looking up for too long could have caused eye damage to the person without the correct viewing cards or supervision.

After experiencing the eclipse, biology teacher, Nolan Smith said, “I thought the eclipse was really neat since we do not normally get to look at the sun to see the moon in front of it.” Abney said, “This was a memorable experience because events like this are very rare and being able to experience it in my lifetime was really cool.”