Because of the rare occurrence of the solar eclipse, Lanier High School established a celebration for the students in honor of the once-in-a-lifetime event. With summer vacation officially being over and the oncoming sun interception, Lanier’s directors decided, ‘Why not make this party a luau?’
So Monday after school, the Lanier herd stampeded up to the football stadium stands, decorated in their finest Hawaiian paraphernalia. There awaited the boisterous festivities, such as an arduous hula hoop competition and challenging limbo tournament.
The students who were not contending the convivial matches either feasted upon the hot dogs and snacks grilled fresh in front of their eyes, or they mingled with friends in anticipation of the main occasion: the sight of the sun being swallowed by the moon.
“It was definitely a school pride thing; everyone had on Hawaiian gear,” Junior Jillian Forbes explained as she described the festival. “But it was also really fun to just sit there with my friends and laugh and joke around.”
Finally, the Longhorn students watched in awe through the filter of their NASA-approved eclipse glasses as the partial eclipse appeared before their very eyes. Together, the whole of Lanier witnessed the brief
disappearance of the sun and its radiant return, an unspoken metaphor of the short vacation they embarked on and their swift restoration into another school year.
In this photo:
Front: Dahn Hugh, Bethany Cadman, Jillian Forbes
Back: Gabriel Garcia, Dylan Kuehl, Blake Daymond, Noah Sollenberger, Akira Izumi
