Partnering with Comcast, C-SPAN’s award-winning Bus will visit Sarasota and Fort Myers to engage local students, teachers, community members and elected officials. These stops by the state-of-the-art, 45-foot customized mobile classroom and production studio are part of a seven-week tour of 10 states, including some battleground states like Florida that will play a pivotal role in the 2020 presidential election.
On Tuesday, November 19, the C-SPAN Bus will be in Sarasota at Riverview High School from 8 am to 10 am and Booker High School from 11 am to 1 pm. Then on Wednesday, November 20, the Bus will be at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers from 9 am to 11 am.
“We’re proud to provide all three C-SPAN networks in Southwest Florida and share their robust educational and political resources with the community,” said Jen Boyett, Senior Manager of External Affairs for Comcast in Southwest Florida. “In addition, we’re partnering with C-SPAN to bring the Bus to Sarasota and Fort Myers because we believe it’s important that students, their teachers and community members understand how our government works.”
Through interactive kiosks and demonstrations aboard the Bus, visitors will learn about C-SPAN’s in-depth coverage of the American political process, Campaign 2020 programming and comprehensive online educational resources, including C-SPAN.org. The website includes an extensive video library containing over 253,000 hours of searchable content for viewing, researching and educational purposes.
Bus visitors will also be invited to share their thoughts on issues they want presidential candidates to address during the campaign as part of the “Voices from the Road” project. During the Battleground States Tour, students and educators will learn about C-SPAN’s national documentary competition, StudentCam. Awarding $100,000 in prize money annually, the competition challenges students to produce a 5-to-6-minute documentary using C-SPAN video to explore a local or national issue of importance. This year’s theme, “What’s Your Vision in 2020?” asks students to explore the issue they want presidential candidates to address during the campaign.
In Sarasota and Fort Myers, C-SPAN programming is provided by Comcast as a commercial-free public service and can be seen on channel 18 and 12; C-SPAN2 on channel 104 and 29; and C-SPAN3 on channel 105 and on the web at C-SPAN.org. Funding for C-SPAN operations, including Bus visits, is provided by cable and satellite TV providers.