C-SPAN resources free for teachers

With school resuming and the 2020 presidential primaries about to begin, C-SPAN has plenty of free resources available to help social studies, history and government teachers.

The Washington-based organization, launched by the nation’s cable television industry four decades ago, offers online teacher training, while also hosting summer educators’ conferences.

Information is available at www.c-span.org/classroom/.

Last month, two Arkansans were selected for the in-person training: Tammy Cullins, a teacher at Little Rock’s Joe T. Robinson Middle School, and Tracie Slattery, who teaches at Fayetteville’s Holt Middle School.

The agenda included presentations by C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, President Susan Swain and other officials.

C-SPAN’s education foundation sponsored the event. Hotels, meals and airfare to Washington were provided, the organization said.

Participants were shown how to access C-SPAN materials, including more than 250,000 hours of programming, as well as 5,000 “existing C-SPAN Classroom lessons, bell ringers and other resources,” officials said.

Applications for the 2020 sessions will be posted this fall.

C-SPAN broadcasts Capitol Hill events live, but is independent of the government. The cable and satellite industry provides the funding.

In 1979, when the television broadcasts began, only the House would permit its proceedings to be broadcast. The Senate followed in 1986.

The original channel, C-SPAN, still provides live gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House. C-SPAN2 tracks Senate proceedings. C-SPAN 3 airs congressional hearings, various events, as well as historical material.