Catholic schools in Maryland find use for solar eclipse glasses

The need for protective eclipse eyewear was gone in the blink of an eye. 

Catholic schools around Maryland were tasked to find a place for all of those discarded glasses. 

“At the Loyola-Notre Dame Library, we are encouraging our campus communities at Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University Maryland to drop off any gently-used eclipse glasses they have at the library’s help desk from now until April 26,” said Jack Owen, outreach and community engagement librarian at the Loyola-Notre Dame Library. “We have a box at the front desk where individuals can deposit the glasses. 

“Then, one of our librarians will drop off the eclipse glasses at a local Warby Parker branch before April 30. Warby Parker will then send the glasses to the nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders, which will distribute them to educators and students across the globe.”

The total solar eclipse moved across North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada April 8. A total solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. The sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk.

At Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, the science department purchased paper glasses, and did not collect them at the end of the viewing event on Echo Field. Several hundred students, seminarians, faculty members and staff at the event enjoyed the view and each other’s company by playing football and frisbee and having picnics. 

The college’s student Astronomy Society kicked off the event with a few rounds of Kahoot, with prizes given to the winners.

Other schools found a way to pay the glasses forward.

“Many students kept the eclipse glasses that were given to them on Monday,” said Laura Briggs, assistant principal and resource specialist at Monsignor Slade Catholic School in Glen Burnie. “Any leftover glasses and/or returned to us will be sent to children in Latin America for the eclipse that is happening in August.”

Michael Burkett, science teacher and STEM chair at Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland, provided the glasses for the students and taught them how to make pinhole glasses. He then gave the glasses to the students.   

Fourth graders at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex also made their own pin-hole eclipse viewers in a science class. Some students also brought their own eclipse glasses, which they shared with their classmates to view the rare event.

“The students were thrilled,” said Jennifer Leynes, Mount Carmel’s lower and middle school principal.

The next total eclipse in the United States will arrive in 2033 when parts of Alaska and Russia are expected to experience the phenomena. Another eclipse will cross Greenland and western Canada, touching swaths of North Dakota and Montana in 2044.

There are issues with keeping the protective eyewear around. 

The eclipse glasses have to meet a safety standard – known as ISO 12312-2— that is deemed safe to reuse, according to the American Astronomical Society. 

Going forward, people should be careful with how they use the glasses. People should not reuse the glasses if the lenses appear to be scratched, ripped or punctured, or if the solar filter is detached from the frame. 

There are other precautions to take. 

“It is generally not considered safe to save the glasses for future use,” said Dana Pirone Ward, chairwoman of  Mount St. Mary’s biology and science department “They expire after three years because the integrity of the viewing film degrades over time which can make using them to view the sun dangerous.”

People weren’t the only ones wearing the special glasses during the eclipse. At Loyola University Maryland, someone put a pair of the glasses on the iconic statue of St. Ignatius Loyola that stands prominently on the academic quad. 

A social media post challenged the Loyola community to caption the photo of the shade-wearing saint who is holding a book.

“A reading from the book of Ecclipsiastes,” wrote one Facebook follower. 

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