Like most schools, Conserve School teachers and staff are always alert for “Teachable Moments”. This year solar activity has set the stage for some great ones. Here is a description of one such moment from Conserve School’s Head of School, Stefan Anderson.

“This past Labor Day evening Conserve School students and staff were fortunate to again witness an impressive display of Northern Lights. For me the evening began as it often does with a quick after dinner check of the website www.SpaceWeather.com to see if anything interesting was occurring. I was excited to see that the planetary K-index was at auroral storm level Kp=6. However, the sun was just setting so there was no guarantee that it would remain at storm level by the time it would be dark enough to view Northern Lights. I gathered my camera, tripod and faithful dog Copper and headed out to the Conserve School sledding hill to await sunset and the hopeful rise of the Northern Lights.

At 8:30 pm, just after sunset I began to see the glimmer of auroral activity. At that time Conserve School students were busy doing homework at their evening study hours locations in the dorms and in the main academic building. By 9:00 pm it was clear to me that the building auroral display was of a magnificence that the students should not miss. I quickly informed the staff that study hours were canceled and that students should be encouraged to join me on the sledding hill. What followed was a delightful hour of star and Northern Lights gazing until clouds moved in to close the show. The soundtrack for the heavenly display was provided by soft guitar and singing punctuated with the clicks and beeps of cameras busily working to capture the aurora.

I hope you enjoy the photos from this memorable Labor Day evening that were captured by students and staff. ~Stefan Anderson, Head of School”