JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — SUNY Jamestown Community College is hosting an afternoon of free fun and informational activities to celebrate the total solar eclipse on April 8 at the Jamestown Campus.
Activities are scheduled for 1-4 p.m. Eclipse totality on campus is expected for nearly three minutes at approximately 3:19 p.m.
All are invited to attend. Experiences include a full-scale model of the solar system; rocket launch game; virtual reality experience; eclipse simulation; solar-themed arts, crafts, and poetry readings; a campus scavenger hunt; science experiments; campus and academic program tours; and food and drinks.
This is the first total solar eclipse with the path of totality passing through the region since June 16, 1806 and there will not be another until Oct. 26, 2144, shared Kari Shrout, a JCC Biology instructor who is helping organize the campus event.
“This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we want to do all we can to make it memorable,” she added. “Pretty much everywhere you step on campus, we’ll have a fun and interactive educational activity for children and families, including an ideal eclipse viewing location.”
Eclipse-viewing glasses and campus maps showing activity locations will be available.
Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP online.
Community members can also get free viewing glasses on the Cattaraugus County Campus in Olean. The campus will also have an interactive at-scale solar system model and scavenger hunt in the quad April 1-5 and 8. Find out more about the activity.
Contact Kari Shrout at KariShrout@mail.sunyjcc.edu or 716.338.1373 for more information.