Gasconade County R-2 School District is planning a STEAM day on April 8 during the Great American Eclipse.

“We bought glasses for all the kids and will do a day of learning with STEAM activities,” said Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy.

The district sent home slips for parents to sign if they do not want their students to go outside during the event. If slips are not returned, students will be allowed to participate. Hardy said the permission slips were sent electronically.

“We will have a lot of science, technology, engineering and math that day,” she said.

The board approved the purchase of solar eclipse glasses during the March 18 meeting.

Gasconade County is expected to experience a deep partial eclipse with a magnitude of 96.5 percent. The partial phase start will begin at 12:41 p.m. and enter its mid-eclipse around 1:59 p.m. according to eclipse2024.org.

This is the second solar eclipse Gasconade County will experience in seven years as the moon blocks the sunlight in an event that will be visible for at least 115 miles across Missouri. An estimated 13 states between Texas and Maine are in the path of the totality event. The first event took place in 2017.

A number of additional astrological events are set to take place in April, including at least two that will coincide with the eclipse.
• Planetary alignment (April 4): Four planets — Venus, Neptune, Saturn, and Mars — align in the morning sky, a rare celestial event.

• Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks (visible April 8 during the eclipse): Dubbed the “Devil Comet,” will visible in the northern hemisphere for the first time in 71 years.

• Straight-line alignment (April 8): Sun, moon, and seven other planets form a straight line in the sky, occurring once every 32 million years.

• CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (April 8): Scheduled to be activated, coinciding ominously with the Great North American Eclipse.

• Great North American Eclipse (April 8): A total eclipse of the sun, spanning from Texas to Maine, termed the “astronomical event of the decade” will take place.

• NASA Rocket Launch (April 8): Three rockets to be launched into the moon’s shadow during the eclipse to study its unique effects.