François Legault surprised the students of George-Étienne-Cartier elementary school by witnessing the solar eclipse with them, Monday afternoon, in Longueuil. A notable visit, while several schools across Quebec closed for the day.
The 266 students who participated in the observation activity were excited when the Prime Minister arrived, a few minutes before the total eclipse. François Legault was accompanied by Shirley Dorismond, MP for Marie-Victorin, to observe the phenomenon under the clear skies of Longueuil.
The children, sitting on the lawn at the front of the school, were dressed in pajamas and cuddly toys for the occasion.
This observation activity is the result of long preparation.
“We did all the educational activities beforehand, to understand what this phenomenon is,” explained Martine Cloutier, director of the George-Étienne-Cartier school, in an interview with The Press.
In the previous weeks, students also practiced putting on their glasses correctly and watching the eclipse safely.
Meanwhile, thousands of Quebec students watched the eclipse from home, due to the closure of nearly half of the province’s schools. As reported by La Presse last March, some schools chose to cancel their educational activities because they considered the instructions from the Ministry of Education to be too restrictive.