With the solar eclipse happening this Monday, The Scratching Post sat down the Science Department Supervisor Mark Prosise to learn more about the event. Due to the rarity of this occurrence, the school administration decided to take time out of our regular schedule so we can watch the eclipse together.

The Scratching Post: Why did the school administration feel this was an important event?

Mr. Prosise: We’re always conscious about class time, and we know we shortened class by a handful of minutes, so that’s kind of the give and take. But, [the administration] felt that this was a significant enough event that they wanted to support it. We’ve made it this cross-curricular thing that involves all departments — not just science.

What will the schedule look like on Monday?

It will be a slightly modified assembly schedule. There will be 46-minute class periods. During seventh period, you’ll receive your official safety eclipse glasses. After, we will dismiss as a whole school for a fire drill. It will be a longer fire drill; maybe ten to fifteen minutes or so. Then, you’ll go back to your seventh period classes and resume.

There have been many reports of fake glasses being sold. How do we know the glasses are the real deal?

We got these well in advance, and when the articles started being published about the scams, we went back to double check that ours were legit. We do most of the [science department’s] business through a company called Flinn Scientific. They supply all our science teacher trainings, and they were totally up on the safety guidelines, so we went through them. They vetted the company [that made the glasses] first, and then we went even further by going directly to that company, and we verified that the glasses were the legit ones.

What’s in these glasses that makes them safe?

They have more than one layer of a synthetic plastic, and if you put them on, you actually can’t see anything…I tested them; I went outside and you can see the sun and you can stare directly into the LED of a flashlight without your eye being affected. Whatever they do completely blocks out normal light.

Can you film the eclipse?

You can, yes. It’s not going to do damage to your phone at all.

How long is the eclipse expected to last around this area?

It’s less than two and a half minutes — plus or minus the two minute mark.

Will the eclipse still happen if it’s cloudy or overcast?

The eclipse will happen, but we won’t see it. If it’s cloudy or overcast then, in [places with totality], they would notice it being darker, but for us outside, we won’t really notice that much of a difference. With 87% blockage, we anticipate that it will feel a bit darker at a point, but that’s why we are also building it into a fire drill, so that this day is not a total waste.