This is one that warms your heart.
Patrick Moriarty began his teaching career in 1978, telling his first ninth-grade class about a total eclipse. After telling his students about this magical moment, he suggested that they all gather in 2024 when the next total eclipse would pass through their hometown, near Rochester, New York.
46 years later, he kept his promise to that group of students.
PEOPLE Magazine reported that when Moriarty told his students about this in 1978, they looked at him like they were crazy thinking about gathering somewhere in 2024, but to his surprise, he had made an impact on many of their lives, having them show up to this eclipse party. Yesterday, nearly 100 of his former students gathered at his Brighton, New York home to celebrate the totality of the solar eclipse.
“I thought it would be a nice little core of people who were totally into eclipses, and maybe they’d share the experience with me.
Once he said it to his first-ever class, he kept the tradition of having students mark their calendars and promise to host them in the future.
“I said to the kids, ‘Hey, why don’t you go ahead and circle that eclipse and we will get together. And after I did that, I did it for the next 16 years with all of my classes that I taught earth science.”
Sure enough, everyone gathered wearing name tags with their class year, bringing lawn chairs and champagne to celebrate with one of their favorite teachers.
“To see all the different classes join together. This was, to me, a true class reunion.”
Said Kendra Denson, class of 1984.
What a heartwarming story of how impactful a good teacher can be on students. The solar eclipse might have made Morgan Wallen act out, according to Ronnie Dunn, but it reunited others with this sweet story.
