On Monday August 21, the moon, in some areas of North America, completely covered the sun. Grayslake North participated in this once in a lifetime event with a special schedule, allowing almost 30 minutes to view the astrological event.

“It was really cool how the school was so supportive and cooperative with this really amazing event, because I wouldn’t have seen the eclipse otherwise,” said freshman Alyssa Greze.

Even though Grayslake was not an area of totality, every student was given a pair of solar filter glasses to prevent permanent eye damage.

“Our 6th hour teacher gave us a pair of special glasses, which was really nice because we wouldn’t have been able to see the eclipse without them,” said senior Shayla Hertzke.

Although it was a cloudy day, some bits of the eclipse were visible a few minutes into the viewing period. The shadow of the moon left a small sliver of the sun uncovered, showing an 88% totality, according to experts.

“It did kind of stink not seeing the eclipse as much as I anticipated, but the experience, little bit we did see and the fact that the school went out to see it together was pretty awesome,” said senior Lauren Magri.