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C-SPAN Bus Offers Rolling Civics Class
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Published: January 28, 2009
BROOKSVILLE - Vanessa Bailey knew the answers she'd get even before she put the questions to the group of eighth-graders from West Hernando Middle School.
"Do you watch C-SPAN," asked Bailey, a marketing rep for the nonprofit network known for its unflashy coverage of U.S. government.
Silence from the nine students, and a couple of guilty smiles.
"Why don't you?" Bailey asked. "You can be honest."
"It's boring," replied 14-year-old Alex Sprinkle.
Bailey smiled. Those words have been uttered more than a few times on the C-SPAN Civics Bus that rolled onto the middle school's campus Tuesday morning, she said.
"We're not in the business of entertaining you," Bailey said. "We give you very important information about what's going on in the government. [Politicians] are making decisions that impact your life more than anyone on the music channel or the food channel."
Driving that point home is one of the missions of the 44-foot-long, $1.5 million bus, a rolling studio and civics classroom that dipped south for a brief tour of Florida. C-SPAN has two of the buses currently on a "100 Schools in 100 Days" tour that kicked off last week.
The bus that hit West Hernando on Tuesday is fresh off a visit to Washington, D.C., for the presidential inauguration, Rodee Schneider, another C-SPAN marketing rep, told the West Hernando students Tuesday.
For a network charged with chronicling government proceedings, the inauguration "is our Olympics, once every four years," Rodee said after asking the students who they would have voted for (eight of nine raised their hands for Obama).
With multiple cameras and a soundboard and monitors mounted on a granite countertop behind the driver's seat, the bus is ready to record history. Presidents have come aboard for interviews - students got to watch a clip from a President Bill Clinton interview taped on the bus in 1995.
During campaigns, the buses tour the country to help inform voters.
But the main mission is to promote C-SPAN Classroom, the network's free service for civics and government teachers. More than 21,000 teachers are members of the free resource.
One such real-world example will include this week's selection of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
After the West Hernando students toured the bus Tuesday, the C-SPAN reps offered a seminar for teachers on the resources offered as part of C-SPAN Classroom, such as daily clips of government in action to coincide with civics lessons.
But C-SPAN reps said they also hope to introduce the younger generations of viewers who surf right by the cable channel that there is something there for them.
At one point, Bailey moved a mouse and coverage of the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture popped up on the two flat screens mounted to the wall.
The screens showed the coverage of the same event on C-SPAN, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. The difference between the for-profit networks and C-SPAN, which is funded by a nickel from every cable bill, was obvious.
C-SPAN simply showed an Army major general announcing the news. The other networks had split screens with video of a haggard looking Hussein undergoing a physical, Iraqis celebrating in the streets and talking heads offering commentary.
C-SPAN offers "fly-on-the-wall" coverage without bias or interpretation, Bailey told the students.
"We think you're smart enough to listen to what they're saying and make up your own minds," she said.
Still, Bailey and Rodee conceded they don't expect students to forgo their MTV for gavel-to-gavel coverage of Congress. But they wanted students to remember it's there for them if they want unfiltered access to government at work.
"It's something you should keep in mind for the future," Rodee said.
The bus made a stop at West Hernando because the school's media specialist Cecilia Solomon participated in an education conference sponsored by C-SPAN last summer in Washington, D.C. The bus visited the schools of the educators who participated in the conference, aimed at familiarizing teachers with C-SPAN's cable networks and online resources.
Imari Pacheco, a 14-year-old eighth-grader, said she can see herself tuning into C-SPAN as she gets closer to the age of 18.
"It will help me learn about the government before I vote," Pacheco said.
For more information on the C-SPAN Civics Bus, visit www.cspan.org/schoolbus.>
Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.
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