From: Laura Lou <lauralou@gatecoms.gatecom.com>
Subject: Eclipse Party results
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 1997 14:31:21 -0500
This will be a rather second-handed report. I am still recouperating from knee surgery but, thanks to a fantastic substitute teacher, my students did not suffer. At 9:30pm Sunday night they assembled at the Lake Erie Metro Park. For some strange reason the Astronomy Club had not arranged a meeting for the eclipse. However, some folks were there with telescopes and binoculars. Part of this Lake Shoreline park is a point that juts out into Lake Erie. From that point observation is away from light pollution and most trees. The road going out to the point is gravelled and easy to travel with lights dowsed. The parking lot is black-top and just fine for settingup equipment. The substitute had playes a riddle game with the students for about 10 days prior to the "Dirty Snowball"commet-making lab. She put clues on the chalkboard each day and offered 20 tickets for the weekly positive action prize drawing to the team or idividual that got all three parts of the "Cosmic Triple-Play" As a result 37 of the 97 students on our team came to the point to see the sights with their parents. Those who were there were allowed to arrive at school two hours late on Monday without penality. Since we start at 7:20am, this was quite a treat. Bless my sub and all other substitute teachers who do so much more than babysit, and then have to return the classes to their regular teachers. Laura Bashlor Shumate Middle School Gibraltar, Michigan