Teacher promised his students an eclipse party in 1978 and he stayed true to his word over four decades later

This week's total solar eclipse has been predicted for a long time, but one teacher and his former students have been waiting for more than 40 years.

Back in the 1970s, a 22-year-old Patrick Moriarty had just started his teaching career.

The newly-minted earth science teacher was at work near to Rochester, New York in 1978 when he made a promise to his ninth-grade class.

This was that when the time came, the class would get together again to witness the next total solar eclipse to pass over their hometown.

While eclipses happen around once every 18 months they can only be viewed from the path of totality, where the Sun and Moon line up perfectly.

Often this passes over the sea or remote areas, but sometimes it does pass over heavily populated areas.

Patrick Moriarty started his teaching career in the 1970s. (NBC News)

The next time that an eclipse's path of totality would pass over the teacher and students' hometown would be, well, this year.

More than 40 years later the teacher kept his promise and met with more than 100 of his students to watch the event.

Recounting the promise he made all those years ago Moriarty, now aged 68, said: “I mentioned to the students, ‘See that one on April 8, 2024? Circle that one. We’re gonna meet that day."

After this first class, he told every earth science class he taught for 16 years to save the same date.

Of course, times have changed a lot since he first made the promise to meet together.

Patrick was able to view the solar eclipse with more than 100 of his former students. (Shawn Dowd/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK)

At the time he said he would send out word in a message from him in the local Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper.

He said: "I did say unless there’s any other way in 2024 you can get ahold of people easier than that."

In the end, he started a Facebook group around two years ago to get the event set up with plenty of notice.

And people did indeed show up on Monday when the total solar eclipse happened, with more than 100 of his former students coming.

The retired teacher said: “I have had the opportunity to reconnect with so many of my students who have shared such wonderful things about being in my classroom and the impact of teachers."

Patrick had the opportunity to reconnect with the people he once taught. (Courtesy of Caitlin Moriarty Hynick)

He added: “This was an ‘Oh my gosh, I guess I did OK. I had an impact on these kids.’ type of moment."

Of course, his students looked substantially different, but Moriarty said he still recognised them

Moriarty said: “It was so interesting seeing them walking up bald or with gray hair, and looking at me like, ‘You’re still my teacher’ and I could see in their faces, in their adult faces now, what they looked like when they were 14."

Topics: News, US News, Space, Education

Kit Roberts

Kit joined UNILAD in 2023 as a community journalist. They have previously worked for StokeonTrentLive, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Star.