Grade 3 students from Miss Edgar’s & Miss Cramp’s School in Westmount are still buzzing from Monday’s astronomical event.
“It was awesome,” said Laurie Cheng, a Grade 3 student. “It became really cold, really dark but it was like midday.”
The girls were still in awe that they were able to witness the phenomenon.
“I was thinking how many people can do this,” said Dylan Burstein. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
More than 250 students, staff and families gathered on school grounds Monday to take in the total solar eclipse together.
The Grade 3 students were in charge of organizing the viewing party, something that they had been planning for months.
“The girls worked together to organize everything, from the setup of the event — what they wanted as booths at the event — they had game stations that they created. And all of that so that we can watch the eclipse together as a school,” said Caroline de Marchie, the school’s junior entrepreneurial lead.
But the learning didn’t stop after the event.
De Marchie wanted to make sure the girls knew what to do with those eclipse glasses after everyone was done with them.
“We all asked people to donate their glasses to the next place that’s having a solar eclipse,” said Grade 3 student, Emma Shadeed.
Some people dropped off their glasses after the event, and this week, the school will send out a notice, asking people to bring back their glasses to the school if they would like to donate them.
They will then send them to an organization that will redirect them to areas that will experience the next celestial event.
“It was such an amazing experience, we wanted to make sure that someone else could enjoy it as well,” said de Marchie.
And if you can’t donate your glasses, experts say you can also recycle them — just make sure to to take out the lenses first.
Or you can keep them for yourselves as a keepsake, in case you plan on catching more eclipses in the future.