This year marks Kyle Jeter’s 20th anniversary teaching astronomy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Jeter said he considers the Great American Eclipse Aug. 21 a gift from the sky.
"I’ve actually only seen one partial solar eclipse and it happened to be the first year that I started astronomy," Jeter said. " I mean what an amazing way to start the school year."
To prepare for this cosmic show in the sky, the Broward County’s 2017 Teacher of the Year showed us how to make homemade devices to view the solar eclipse without looking in the sky.
One technique is using a pin hole projector. This one is shaped like Florida. “You hold this and line it up so once again you get a shadow of the state on the ground. And in the middle you’ll have a little circle of light that's the sun,” Jeter said.
You can also make your our solar eclipse box.
"You take a large cardboard box and cut out a hole first, then aluminum foil and that way you can make a tiny pinhole," he said. "That’s where the lights going to come in. So you’re going to stand with your back to the sun and light will spread through the hole and its going to make an image of the sun and usually that's just a circle."
Broward County issued a mandatory advisory for all schools to keep kids inside between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. for safety concerns. Miami Dade is allowing teachers to have safe outdoor educational viewings.
The solar eclipse peaks when students will be out of school. It is important for parents to encourage their children to use certified solar eclipse glasses. Parents can also monitor children and use one of these techniques properly and with precaution.