Appalachia Sessions

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Appalachia Sessions The Appalachia Sessions is a live-streamed TV event for the students of Appalachia

10/19/2026

Talk is cheap. Action looks like 1,500 kids finding their future.

You can sit in a boardroom and debate Tennessee’s workforce, or you can spark a fire in the minds of the middle schoolers who will actually build it.

At Appalachia Sessions, we chose the fire. We brought 1,500 kids to Thompson-Boling Arena, cranked the music, and put them face-to-face with the giants of our local industry: UT, Knoxville TCAT, Orano, Y-12, and Energy Solutions. We aren't just showing them jobs; we are showing them their potential.

Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson walked the concourse and saw it firsthand—the exact moment the lightbulb goes on for a kid discovering a career they never knew existed. Connecting these dots isn't a talking point. It’s the ultimate investment in our state's survival and success.

Grateful to have Leader Johnson standing with us on the front lines of Tennessee's future.

09/24/2026

100,000 fans, President Trump, and the battle for the "Real UT" take over Neyland in east Tennessee this Saturday.

But the most important battle this week happens in a classroom 8 miles from Davy Crockett's hometown.

There are two middle schoolers sitting in that exact class room in White Pine, TN.

They are both bright. They both share the exact same deep Appalachian roots as Davy Crockett. And as they grow up, both will have massive dreams.
But flash forward a few years, and their paths will look very different.

One kid will step onto a college campus, look their future in the eye, and confidently yell, "I DO" when asked who turns their dreams into action. The other will stay home, disconnected, potential untapped, their world small, because they never got the chance to see what was possible outside their zip code.

What makes the difference in these kids' lives? It isn’t intelligence or talent. It’s having someone show up for them.

200 years ago, Davy Crockett left his Tennessee home and showed up for Texas at the Alamo. He gave his life for the Lone Star State. Today, the kids growing up in his backyard need someone to show up for them.

That is exactly why Appalachia Sessions exists, to connect TN kids to TN careers Recently, we brought Jefferson County educator Mira Denton's entire White Pine middle schooll to a campus to show them a world bigger than they’ve ever known.

Currently, 1 in 10 TN kids is disconnected . It takes $400 to change the trajectory of one student's life and send them on this journey.

The challenge:
Volunteers show up because it’s in our blood. Longhorns show up to honor the Tennessee legend who died for their state. Which fanbase will sponsor more students this weekend?

👉 Sponsor a student at: www.appysessions.com/donate

P.S. — The battle for the "Real UT" is officially on. Drop a 🍊 for Tennessee or a 🤘 for Texas in the comments to claim the title—and let's see which fanbase steps up for these kids! 👇

09/23/2026

APPALACHIA SESSIONS LIVE

Field trip: free.
Lunch: free.
One kid at Appalachia Sessions Live: $400.
A thousand kids yelling "I DO": Priceless.

Some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's you.
DONATE NOW: appysessions.com/donate

Sponsored by First Century Bank, Tazewell, communities TN since 1894. Administration

09/19/2026

has promised to publicly embarrass anyone who wastes your money. Then he came to an Appalachia Sessions Live field trip.

Here's what the chairman of the House DOGE Subcommittee saw. Buses. University of Tennessee campus. 1,000 Tennessee kids in 4 sessions before lunch, then the doors open and Chris Blue asks "who leads your story" and every one of them yells "I do."

Burchett's review, on camera: kids look at that campus and now say "maybe that could be me." And then Burchett said, "maybe one of them will be the next Chris Blue."

That's the guy who cuts things. Not cutting this.

One in ten Tennessee kids never gets a career. Tennessee eats $1.32 billion a year for the ones who don't. Burchett would call that waste. We do too.

$400 puts a kid on the bus. appysessions.com/donate

Tagline: Passed the Burchett test.

09/19/2026

Just a Field Trip? Well, No One Fakes Sick to Miss It.

hich is more than third period can say.

Body: A college campus, not a classroom. Identity, Mindset, Workforce, Access, four sessions before lunch. Free. Fed. Then the doors open, Chris Blue walks out, and 1,000 kids yell "I do" when he asks who leads their story.

Three weeks later, 88 percent of kids can still tell you about a field trip. Randomized study, 11,000 students. Try that with a worksheet.

One in ten Tennessee kids never gets a career. Tennessee eats $1.32 billion a year for the ones who don't. Not the ones on the bus.

$400 puts a kid on it.

he one day nobody skips.

Sponsored by Bush's Best. Since 1908.

09/18/2026

Just a Field Trip? Well, We're Gonna Need a Bigger Busses.

20,000 kids a year. 100,000 in five. A state senator said it on camera, so now we have to do it.

Sen. Richard Briggs stood in a college hallway full of middle schoolers and said "100,000 children" out loud, on video, with a microphone on. Thanks, Senator. No pressure.

Here's why he said it. He watched a kid get off a bus, walk onto a college campus, and say "this could be me." Nobody has ever said "this could be me" about a worksheet. Nobody has ever said it in a cafeteria. They say it standing on a college campus with a concert about to start.

Then Chris Blue asks who leads their story and 1,000 of them yell "I do." Every show. On cue. We didn't rehearse it. We don't have to.

One in ten Tennessee kids never gets a career. Tennessee eats $1.32 billion a year for the ones who don't. So yeah, 100,000. That's a lot of bus. We're fine with that.

$400 puts a kid on it.

Tagline: The one day nobody skips.

09/14/2026

Somebody Finally Asked.

One in ten Tennessee kids never finds a career. Most were never asked what they wanted to be.

These 1,000 were, on a college campus, by THEC, Walters State, and Metro Drug Coalition, the people who can actually make it happen. And they felt it. Then Chris Blue asked one more question: who puts your dreams into action?

And they screamed, "I do."

Stowers CAT sponsored this because they see who's going to build East Tennessee next. $400 asks the next kid.

Sponsored by Stowers CAT.

09/14/2026

Which Company Hires the Most Tennessee Grads?

21st Mortgage says it does. More UT, ETSU, and Maryville College grads than anyone since 2006. Now the kids know where the jobs are too.

"Every student should know what careers are out there," says Bob Eby, Chairman of the State Board of Education. One in ten never finds out.

Appalachia Sessions is changing that. Thousands of kids. One campus. Role models, trades, pathways, all in one day. Then Chris Blue asks who writes their story.

They leave chanting, "I do."

$400 sends a kid.

Sponsored by 21st Mortgage Corporation. Hiring Tennessee since 1995.

09/13/2026

Roll That Beautiful Kid Footage.

Bush's won't tell you their recipe. Here's ours.

Take Jefferson and Hancock County teachers. Add a college campus, local role models, a room full of trades, and a concert. Stir until every kid in the arena screams "I do." Serve free.

"A better Appalachian, a better student, a better person," says Myra Denton.

Not bad for a Tuesday.

One in ten Tennessee kids never gets a career. These won't be. $400 per serving.

Sponsored by Bush's Best. Jefferson County since 1908.

09/13/2026

A Congressman, a Senator, and the State Board Chairman Walked Into an Arena.

Then 1,000 Tennessee kids told them who leads their life. "I do."

One in ten Tennessee kids never gets a career. It costs the state $1.32 billion a year. Congressman Tim Burchett, Sen. Richard Briggs, and State Board Chairman Bob Eby have seen the fix in person. "They see that they can do this," Briggs said. Every level of Tennessee government has signed on. 10,000 kids reached. Now it needs you.

Fund the future of Tennessee. $400 sends a kid. appysessions.com/donate

Sponsored by Altar'd State. Stand Out. For Good.

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