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

 “TKA’s Glimpse at the Eclipse” viewing celebration occurs on Monday, August 21, 2017, from noon to 3:00 pm. The event is located on the school’s campus at 202 Smothers Road in Seymour, an approximately 15 minute drive from downtown Knoxville, and 15 minutes from downtown Sevierville. Solar eclipse darkness totality at this location is 99.9 percent at maximum, occurring at 2:34 pm.

Activities are free of charge to all attendees. All groups and individuals are welcome, and tickets are not required. Official viewing safety glasses will be supplied to the first 1,000 arrivers. 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 pm 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 in Seymour.

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.”