C-SPAN bus educates students
C-SPAN bus tour visits Lansingburgh High School students
LANSINGBURGH, N.Y. >> On Tuesday, students from Lansingburgh High School were able to engage in the C-SPAN “50 Capitals Tour” bus, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, touring each of the 50 state capitals across the country
s students boarded they were able to get interactive and engage in the process and learn about how government works.
“I think it’s great, I think it’s great for one thing, first of all, a show of hands not many knew what C-SPAN was all about and people don’t realize that C-SPAN is really dedicated to bringing government to everyone’s home TV screen or their computer screen,” Assemblyman John McDonald III, D- Cohoes, said after speaking with students on the bus
“I’m hoping that what this does is it inspires them to takes a more vested interest in how government operates, the good and the bad. I think a more informed citizen makes for a stronger country,” McDonald added of the civic engagement and learning process.
School district officials said they were also happy to give students the opportunity to participate in something like this.
“This is great, our students, they’re a lot more informed than people give them credit for, some see them as too young to be involved in politics in this current climate but I think our kids are more in touch than they’re given credit for,” Lansingburgh High School Principal Matthew Van Dervoort said of his knowledgeable students.
“They have the world at their hands with their phones, they’re no longer a TV or radio or news generation, they get it up to date, if it’s happening five minutes ago, they know about it right away. Something like this coming here just shows the impact that news has on them, they were very excited when they found out it was coming,” Van Dervoort added of how his students connect and stay informed.
Officials with C- SPAN said that they wanted to engage with students around the country.
“This has been such an exciting moment for us. We launched the “50 Capitals Tour” earlier last year and decided let’s go to every state capital and the Capital Region and engage with students as they’re more involved than ever in government and politics and what’s happening and that’s what we see when they’re on the bus,” C- SPAN Marketing Representative Jenae Green said of the bus tour.
“Here at Lansingburgh High School we’ve had the most amazing eleventh and twelfth graders come out and we’re just saying listen, you’re already doing it, you’re already to some extent engaged in politics, know that CSPAN is a source for you all, a non-partisan source where you can go on there, get the information, we’re not going to get in and chop it up with commercials and talking heads, none of that, but we will let you make your own informed decisions and decide what’s important for you, so that you can understand government like you are right there as it’s happening so that’s what CSPAN does,” Green said of how C-SPAN is attempting to interact as a go-to source for students engaging in the process.
Students are also able to partake in competition student cam, where students can make a fiveminute video documentary about an issue of importance to them. This year’s theme is, “What does it mean to be an American?” The grand prize is $5,000.