The Husky Huddle
This is the 'Husky Huddle,' the podcast that brings you closer to the heart of Olean City School education. Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or a proud member of our community, this podcast is dedicated to providing insightful conversations, expert advice, and a closer look at what makes our district truly exceptional.
The Husky Huddle
Welcoming the Solar Eclipse with OCSD Science Teachers Dan Freeman and Matt Woleben
Prepare to be whisked away on an educational journey led by Dan Freeman and Matt Woleben, as we explore the cosmic wonders of the upcoming April 8th total solar eclipse. Learn more about Star Lab sessions, where EV, WW, and OIMS students become astute observers of the skies, versed in the delicate dance of celestial bodies. Our hands-on approach equips our future astronomers with knowledge of safe viewing practices and fosters an infectious excitement that has the whole district buzzing. It's safe to say we are all excited for April 8, the day we stand united under the full eclipse of the sun.
As we embark on this celebratory countdown to totality, join us as we discuss the profound beauty of nature's grandest spectacle. Also, continue to hope for non-cloudy weather! We eagerly anticipate reconvening post-eclipse to share the transformative experiences carved by this rare alignment of the cosmos!
Thank you for joining us on our newest episode of the Husky Huddle. I am so happy to be joined by Dan Freeman and Matt Wallaban, who are going to talk to us today about the April 8th eclipse and all the wonderful things that we are planning here in our district to support this great initiative. And just for your edification, our dear community, on April 8th, if you haven't heard yet, the moon is going to slip between the earth and the sun, casting a shadow across a big portion of North America, and this is going to be a total solar eclipse. So which one of you want to go first and tell me about yourself very quickly, so that we can know who you are?
Speaker 2:Okay, so my name is Matt Willibin. I am Earth Science and Environmental Science teacher here at the high school.
Speaker 3:Fantastic and my name is Dan Freeman. I am an earth science teacher here at the high school and I've been working here for 24 years and ever since I started making notes for earth science, I've had this eclipse included in my notes, and I've been waiting 24 years for this to happen. It's a really big deal and I'm really excited for it.
Speaker 1:Wow. The only other thing that I can say that I waited 24 years to do was to see Prince in concert, which I never got to do.
Speaker 3:Oh, that would have been nice yeah it would have been nice too.
Speaker 1:But, thank you, I'm so glad that you two are here and I'm so happy to hear about what you all are doing with the Star Lab, because this is a big event and you said, we've been planning for this for a very long time and are so excited that it's going to be right here in our backyard. So tell us what you're doing with the Star Lab.
Speaker 3:Do you want me to go? Would you like to let me go? Okay, so basically, me and Mr Wolbin met with a few different people Mrs Mahar and Kelly Gravowski from BOCES and you know, we just knew this was such a big deal. We wanted to do something to educate the younger kids, and so it was a lot of work.
Speaker 3:Me and Mr Wolven put a lot of work into it but it was totally worth it and I want to give a shout out. This would not have been successful not only with just the adults, but we had quite a few high school students that helped us out with this and they did an exceptional job. So basically what we did for the elementary schools is we had one group of students doing like a little skit about the eclipse to educate the students on safety and what was actually happening that the moon was going to go. In between, while that group was there, another group was working with kids doing a little hands on activity with like a styrofoam ball and kind of moving it in front of a light bulb so they could see the moon actually moving in front.
Speaker 3:And Mr Wollobin and I were actually inside of the star lab and I got to tell you we rocked it. It was. It was really interactive for the students. I think that you know I was doing most of the talking and Mr Wollobin was doing the computer, but all these kids were excited. It was nice to just hear the kids scream at times. I mean, I know that's not a thing a teacher would normally say, but there were moments where it's like, oh, I hope they like that. And then all of a sudden you would just hear the sound just erupt inside of the dome.
Speaker 3:So it's a scream of excitement it was, it was a tear, it was not tear, it was not tear, it was excitement. But so what we did inside the dome is basically we kind of showed them what the sky looked like and where the sun would be. We went over a lot of different things, like it's going to get cold, you might hear animals making sounds, but then we went to a couple different views. I had the kids kind of like raise their hands and cross their fingers and hope for no clouds. So we all did a big, you know wish like no clouds on April 8th. And then, after we did that, I was like would you guys like to go to space? And me and Mr, all the stars were out. It was like we were in space. It was a space view of the eclipse.
Speaker 3:Then we did a couple other things. Like you know, fly us to the moon, mr Wollivan. He clicked another button. It was almost like the moon was going to collapse, you inside of this thing. So there might have been a few screams of terror for that for a second, until the kids realized. But I will say that when all the kids left out of that, that sky lab, they were excited, they were ready for the eclipse. They we asked them multiple times like what do you got to do? They know they got to have their glasses on, so it was just a really great activity. It took. It was a lot of work but it was.
Speaker 2:It was definitely worth it in the end yeah, I mean, we got a lot of thank you cards from all the elementary.
Speaker 3:Oh, that was really nice getting the thank you kids from a lot of the students like I'm not used to that, so it was really nice to get some thank you cards from the students you guys got to both of our elementary schools and to oinks yes, we got, we did what up to sixth grade? Yeah, sixth grade that is fantastic.
Speaker 1:So of course our listeners can't see, but I'm holding up a pair of the safe or solar viewing goggles. So do you think this experience is going to help our students be more knowledgeable about what's going to happen on April 8th and be able to watch it safely and understand a little bit better about what's going on?
Speaker 2:I would say you know, because we did this, the kids now have a better understanding of what to expect and obviously, the safety portion of it. You know, since we did go over, you know this is when you should wear your goggles, this is when you can take them off, you know when you have to put them back on again. So I think it was beneficial for the kids to do that while we were in the dome.
Speaker 1:So that's fantastic. So I heard that this entire process is going to be four minutes and 29 seconds. I also heard that the radio edit of Total Eclipse of the Heart is four minutes and 30 seconds. Do you think there's a coincidence.
Speaker 3:There could be. There could be be. Well, that's one of the things we educated the kids on. We we kind of told them that if they're in all in, they're not going to be in totality. But we said, as they move towards buffalo, that's when you would start to get like two minutes of totality. You know up to like four, but I did not know it was four minutes and how many seconds 29, 29. So I'm gonna to listen to that song now totally eclipse of the heart.
Speaker 1:You know what to do when it starts. Hit play. The radio edit will take you four minutes and 30 seconds. Interesting. Okay, that's important for everybody to know, so that we're all in sync okay, true so is there anything else you want to tell us to be excited and build up this awesome excitement for the eclipse? Is there any special dance we should be doing to make sure that we have this beautiful sunny weather that we have right now on April 8th?
Speaker 3:Well, I'm going to ask anybody that's listening to this broadcast for you all to cross your fingers and stick them up, just like those elementary kids did, and say no clouds April 8th, because I think that's going to be the biggest setback here. You know, if we get clouds I still think it'll be interesting because it'll still get dark. You know the animals might still make some sounds, but I mean it's just going to be spectacular to see it in totality. I would like to tell any parents out there that are listening to this If you have the ability to just drive 10 or 15 minutes with your children to either the North or the West, it's definitely going to be worth it to get into that path of totality.
Speaker 3:I kind of worked this out with my own daughter the other day. She's 23 years old, but she was asking me and we figured, you know, if she just went like towards Salamanca, the difference between Allegheny, where you might get like 15 seconds of totality, and just to Salamanca, it was like two minutes of totality. So, just the you know, just do a 20 minute drive. Get into that path of totality. It's definitely going to be worth it. Know that you can take your glasses off when it goes into totality, but when it comes out you got to have those glasses back on.
Speaker 2:I mean it is a once in a lifetime thing. I mean the next one, 140 years, 40 years, so yeah yeah, so this is a great opportunity.
Speaker 1:I really appreciate the work that you're both doing to make sure that our kids can experience this safely and that they understand the significance of this. Of course, all of our kids will be here in a hundred and how many years 140 years 40 years.
Speaker 1:Yes, by that point, they will all be here to see it again and they will reflect positively on our preparation for this event, and I want to thank you both for coming and I can't wait to have you back on to see what happened for our eclipse and what your impressions were Well.
Speaker 3:thank you for having us. Thank you, pam. Thank you.