BY KAREN BOSSICK

It’s full STEAM ahead at Hemingway Elementary School today, as thousands of people gather in Sun Valley to watch the Great American Eclipse.

Hemingway teachers are taking advantage of the solar eclipse to introduce their new STEAM curriculum encompassing science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

“It’s going to be an exciting time,” said Scott Slonim, long the technology teacher at Hemingway. “We’re going to have some fun activities, different grades doing different stuff.”

Hemingway teachers, aided by high school math and science teachers, will set up various activity booths around the campus.

Slonim will stage 15-minute celestial shows in his giant inflatable Star Lab Planetarium.

A science booth will showcase an eclipse model simulation, while technology booth offers a virtual reality solar system.

An engineering booth will give students a chance to make paper eclipse viewers and other experiments. Students will read stories about eclipses at the art and literature station.

Everyone will get a free lunch to boot.

The school has invited parents to accompany children to what they’re billing as “The Event of a Lifetime.”

The school is also bussing students from the Meadows Trailer Park and Sun Hollow at Broadway Run at 8:30 a.m. They’ll pick up kids at North Fork at 9 a.m.

“I’m going to ride bike to school because I’m afraid I’m going to be late if I try to drive,” said Slonim.

Slonim’s own children have been talking about the eclipse all summer.

“It’s what everyone’s talking about,” said Slonim. “They’re caught up in the novelty of it. And I think it’s going to be really neat. The idea that you can get total darkness in a few minutes, with the temperature dropping 20 degrees--that’s amazing.”