Written by Bailey Coffman \/\/ Photo by Briley Kemper<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harding University\u2019s solar eclipse ambassadors worked hard to prepare for the solar eclipse earlier this week, as Searcy was in the path of totality April 8. Dr. Cindy White, professor and chair of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, expressed pride in her students\u2019 dedication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey have been preparing for months now, and they have done so much work,\u201d White said. \u201cThey were huge in putting on NASA Day, as it was all the students that were running all the stations and doing all the activities and the teaching and learning that was going on.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over 1,300 middle school students from surrounding county schools participated in NASA Day, a series of events hosted by solar eclipse ambassadors on Harding\u2019s campus Friday, April 5. Freshman Raquel Webb spoke to her participation in the events of NASA Day and her role on the day of the eclipse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDr. White sent out an email to chemistry and biology majors about the job,\u201d Webb said. \u201cI applied, and we\u2019ve just been preparing and planning for NASA Day. My station was building bottle rockets, and on Monday for the solar eclipse we\u2019re going to be handing out solar eclipse glasses and galaxy-themed foods.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophomore Katherine Hewitt, another solar eclipse ambassador, shared the importance of engaging with local schools in collaboration with such a monumental event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEach group of kids came for two hours, they got to see a telescope, do astronaut training and watch a movie in a planetarium,\u201d Hewitt said. \u201cLots of their questions caused me to wonder the impact that this would make on their future degrees or jobs. The events of NASA Day were neat because we were able to partner with the kids\u2019 teachers in explaining to them the stations we had planned, encouraging the kids\u2019 excitement about space and the eclipse.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The solar eclipse ambassadors, supported by the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium and endorsed by NASA, were instrumental in organizing educational activities and events on campus for the day of the eclipse. Hewitt emphasized the collaborative effort of varying scholastic disciplines, all coming together because of a mutual interest in the events of the eclipse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOverall, it\u2019s been really cool to work alongside the professors and hear their passion for their subject and their ability to explain it to us,\u201d Hewitt said. \u201cI\u2019ve also gotten to know a few other science majors, and it\u2019s so cool to me that we all have different majors and skills to use in the events this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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