Official NASA Eclipse Event at King’s Academy Open to the Public

The King’s Academy in Seymour invites the public to attend its free solar eclipse viewing event, featuring kid’s activities, music, special guests, and free eclipse glasses for the first 1,000 people to arrive.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) endorsed The King’s Academy campus as the only Official NASA Event Site in the East Tennessee area still open to the general public. The only other official viewing location, Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is sold out of event tickets.

The King’s Academy Glimpse at the Eclipse viewing celebration occurs on Monday, August 21, 2017, from noon to 3 p.m. on the school’s campus at 202 Smothers Road in Seymour. Solar eclipse darkness totality at this location is 99.9 percent at maximum, occurring at 2:34 p.m.

Activities are free of charge to all attendees. All groups and individuals are welcome, and tickets are not required. Official eclipse glasses will be supplied to the first 1,000 attendees. Space-themed specialty snacks and souvenirs will be for sale throughout the event. Educational and fun activities, solar safety information, safe-viewing projectors, live music, and a focal program will all occur leading up to the maximum eclipse occurrence.

Beginning at 12:15 p.m. in Woody Auditorium, elementary students will be treated to a fun, high-energy, musical feature “Gravity”, presented by a traveling children’s show with a space theme to complement the eclipse. A brief focal program will also occur on the campus central quad lawn, with live inspirational music and Scripture reading.

Additionally, local political dignitaries, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists, and a Challenger Space Learning Center representative from Washington, D.C. will attend the event.

Headmaster Walter Grubb recently expressed his thoughts, “We at The King’s Academy are extremely honored to be selected by NASA to host this historic phenomenon. It is our privilege to share the TKA campus with our surrounding community, for the excitement and awe-inspiring glory of this once-in-a-lifetime experience. We invite all groups and individuals interested in experiencing the total eclipse to join us in celebrating this event together.”