Some students in Richland County will have online learning day of April 8 solar eclipse
Students in Richland County will stay home from school on Monday, April 8, the day of the solar eclipse.
Some, though, will be required to login for remote learning that day, according to Rebecca Owens, the county's EMA director.
Students from the Ontario Local School District, Mansfield St. Peter's School, OSU-Mansfield, and North Central State College will all need to be online for class April 8.
All others will be off entirely.
The total solar eclipse will be the first in Ohio since 1806. The next will be in the year 2444.
The Ohio Department of Education has labeled the event a "once-in-a-lifetime" experience.
Eclipse is a learning opportunity for students of all ages
"Being in the path of this eclipse provides a unique learning opportunity for students," the department's website reads.
The state reminded school districts that "traffic is expected to be extremely heavy Monday and extending into Tuesday, and communication capabilities such as cell service and internet bandwidth could be diminished or unavailable in places."
Teachers have been encouraged to incorporate the solar eclipse into their lesson plans ahead of the event.
"Be sure parents are informed about the eclipse, so they have the chance to plan an educational family trip, if desired," the Ohio Department of Education website reads.
Moon's shadow will cover large portion of Ohio for nearly 4 minutes
The afternoon sky will go dark for nearly 4 minutes April 8 when the moon passes between the sun and Earth.
The eclipse's shadow will enter western Ohio about 3:10 p.m. near the city of Greenville in Darke County, according to a NASA map.
The path of the eclipse will travel northeast, reaching Cleveland by 3:15 p.m., then Erie, Pennsylvania, by about 3:18 p.m.
The totality viewing area will be a 124-mile wide strip angling from the southwest to northeast corners of the state.
Everyone who views the eclipse should wear solar glasses that have the code "ISO 12312-2:2015" stamped on them, which indicates they have passed International Organization for Standardization requirements on how protective solar glasses should be made, the American Astronomical Society has reported.
Failure to wear the proper eye protection when looking at the sun could cause lifelong visual impairments.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Some Richland County students have online class day of April 8 eclipse
