Every student in Erie, Crawford and Warren counties will be able to view the total solar eclipse next year in a safe way.

Penn State Behrend is donating 50,000 eclipse glasses to every kindergarten through 12th grade student before April 8, 2024. The university’s Yahn Planetarium is providing the glasses that will be shared with students in public and private schools.

Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, the school of science wanted to make sure students could view the eclipse safely and learn about how the solar system works.

“Our goal is the make sure that every child has a chance to see the eclipse safely on April 8. At the same time, we want to make sure that all the educators in the area have a chance to explain to these students how eclipses work, why it’s happening, and why this one is special. It’s a total solar eclipse, not an annular eclipse, which is an even more spectacular sight to see. So, there’s going to be the educational experience to see what’s happening,” said Michael Rutter, associate director of the school of science at Penn State Behrend.

Members of the planetarium have made generous donations to make sure this is possible for all students in the area.