Retired Teacher Keeps His 46 Year Promise To Students In Western New York

It took about 50 years to come to fruition, but this science teacher did not let his students down. 

Back in 1978, Mr. Patrick Moriarty was passing out a homework assignment about solar eclipses to his 9th grade students. The sheet Moriarty created for the assignment looked at every eclipse occurring over a 56 year period, from 1974 to 2030. 

Something on the sheet caught Moriarty’s eye, and it was the date April 8, 2024. He noticed that there would be a total solar eclipse, and the path of totality would be right where they are near Rochester, NY. 

For the next 16 years of his career, Patrick Moriarty promised his students at Webster Central School District every year that they would all be meeting up on that day, several years into the future. 

According to this tweet, Moriarty said, “They looked at me like I was crazy back then.” But it was Moriarty who was stunned on the day of the eclipse. 

Read More: Surprising Eclipse Traffic Photo From Buffalo, New York

Fast forward to that long awaited day of April 8, 2024, nearly 50 years after Moriarty made the promise to the first class back in 1978, he opened up his home for a reunion of over 100 former students. 

As the crowd gathered at Moriarty’s home, each person brought a lawn chair and some had refreshments. 

While the moment in the sky was once in a lifetime, Mr. Moriarty said that it was even bigger than that, because the experience with his students shows the impact teachers can have in the lives of their students, even several decades later!

“It's about people and the sharing and the impact of teachers, the impact of teachers and what teachers can mean to students even when they're 60 years old and they can think back to when they were in junior high,” Moriarty said, according to Spectrum News. 

It’s a cool moment for both the students and especially Mr. Moriarty, because they showed him how influential he was with his teachings when the 100+ former students showed up at his house for the watch party.