• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
A student observes the eclipse April 8, 2024, using special glasses at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex. (Courtesy Our Lady of Mount Carmel School)

Catholic schools in Maryland find use for solar eclipse glasses

April 15, 2024
By Todd Karpovich
Special to the Catholic Review
Filed Under: Colleges, Environment, Feature, Local News, News, Schools

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

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.”

A statue of St. Ignatius sports eclipse viewing glasses April 8, 2024, at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. (Courtesy Loyola University Maryland)

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. 

Read More Schools

Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options

When it comes to serving students with disabilities, how are Catholic schools doing?

School club gives students chance to benefit veterans, fosters Gospel value of serving others

school choice

ANALYSIS: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ gives school-choice advocates partial victory with more to do

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

2025 Stellar graduates

Copyright © 2024 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Todd Karpovich

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary

  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • A butterfly lands on a flowering bush with purple blossoms A Miracle for a Baby in Rhode Island (and for all of us)

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Cardinal Tomasi: Religious communities can play key roles in nuclear disarmament

Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man

Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says

New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program

Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Cardinal Tomasi: Religious communities can play key roles in nuclear disarmament
  • Warsaw archbishop ‘devastated, crushed’ by priest’s arrest in brutal murder of homeless man
  • Jubilee of Youth chance to celebrate hope, fraternity in world at war, panel says
  • New York archdiocese sees hundreds of responses to ‘Called By Name’ program
  • Can’t afford a Catholic college? Think again. Many offer full tuition options
  • Detroit archbishop fires theologians Ralph Martin, Eduardo Echeverría from seminary
  • LA archbishop, joined by business leaders, starts fund to help families affected by ICE raids
  • FBI surveilled SSPX priest amid probe of suspected neo-Nazi’s plans for violence
  • Poland’s ‘living memorial’ to St. John Paul II marks 25 years of transforming lives

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en