Civic Learning Week - Resources & Opportunities at Town Meeting TV

March 11–15, 2024, marks Civic Learning Week, an annual celebration dedicated to promoting civic education and its importance in preparing people for their roles as informed and engaged participants in our self-governing society.

Civic Learning Week is designed to focus attention on the foundational role civic education has to play in sustaining and strengthening our constitutional democracy.

At Town Meeting TV, we offer a robust media education program that often centers around civic engagement. Interns, students, and community members can rent & take out video equipment at no charge to record community events, rallies, and interviews with community leaders, local representatives, and state legislators.

Our equipment rental system is low-barrier and very accessible, no formal orientation or membership is required. Students do not have to intern with our organization in order to use our equipment.

Town Meeting TV's Media Educator and other staff members are trained to get folks comfortable with the equipment quickly, so that they can record and preserve events that are happening in their communities at any time. We have had class groups from around Chittenden County visit our studio, get familiar with our equipment & resources, and learn interview skills that they can use in real-world situations.

Our interns frequently conduct on-the-street interviews about current issues affecting their communities. During election seasons, interns conduct interviews with voters at the polls and play an important role in our local election coverage. They also travel to the State House to conduct more formal interviews with legislators about issues directly impacting them and their friends & families. All of these programs are aired & shared on our YouTube channel and cable television stations.

We encourage those who are interested in learning more about our equipment resources to contact Jordan Mitchell and Steven Heron (Town Meeting TV Co-Directors) at maketv [at] cctv [dot] org. Folks who are interested in learning more about our media education programs should reach out to Travis Washington (Town Meeting TV Media Educator) at twashington [at] cctv [dot] org.