VALDOSTA — Students at St. John the Evangelist School dropped off their bags at the Parish Center and set out for the playground at 2:30 p.m. Monday, but their eyes weren’t on the jungle gym. 

Eyes were on the sky, as students, parents and faculty gathered to watch the eclipse.  

Ella Grace Dampier, 13, said she was excited to see the eclipse after hearing about it two weeks ago. Although she still found it interesting, she said the reality of the event surprised her. 

“I thought it was going to be a lot darker,” Dampier stated.  

Teachers throughout the school had prepared lessons and crafts teaching students about the eclipse prior to the event, Arlene Manning, the middle school science teacher, said. Manning organized the school’s Eclipse Monday activities. 

Ruby Redhage, 10, said she enjoyed the eclipse activities. 

“They were fun, and we got to drink Sunkist, have a Moon Pie and have Eclipse gum,”  she said.

After viewing the eclipse, sixth-graders played out a Chinese myth about the eclipse by using noisemakers to chase a dragon away from the sun. 

The certified glasses used for viewing were donated by Dr. Avery Moody and Cindy Moses. 

Aaron Pye displayed NASA’s livestream of the eclipse in the Parish Center as well. 

At Valdosta State University, hundreds of people swarmed the Pedestrian Mall in front of Odum Library, ready to catch a glimpse of the action. The university had 200 eclipse glasses to hand out, and they vanished in two minutes, distributors said.

With the help of the glasses, high-tech telescopes provided by VSU, and DIY viewers made out of cereal boxes, people young and old turned their faces upward to watch the dark moon cover over the burnt orange sun.

Clouds threatened to ruin the fun but they stayed away long enough for the crowd to catch clear and stunning views of the highly anticipated eclipse.

As the crowd buzzed with excitement, Maral Meredova helped her son, Deniz Sisman, 5, look through a telescope and see the astronomical event in high definition.

Meredova brought Deniz and her other son, Yusuf, 7, to VSU because she said it beat watching the eclipse on a screen at home.

“We love being part of nature to begin with, and we love to experience things firsthand,” Meredova said. “I’m so thankful that VSU has these telescopes out here for the public to experience something that maybe we won’t experience in a very long time.”

Kimberly Cannon is a Reporter with The Valdosta Daily Times. Her extension is 1376.