Welcome to cspan teacher fellowship program. How do you engage High School Students in government . Its definitely a challenge. The kids understand why that our matters, i think it is challenge, why does this matter to you . For. Are we doing it thats where the cspan library is very important. This might be the only government clash you ever take. You will be eight voter forever. It is helpful to do that. We know with twitter and social media and the Attention Span of the generation is relatively small. Component this is the chance for them to learn a little bit about their story. With peoplestarts who have come long before them who have shaped the way the world operates and they serve to realize this doesnt start with me but what where i am coming from is all part of a bigger story. It allows them to take in other peoples opinions through social media and again through video and be able to think, this is how i see the world. You get this students at the high school level. Do you sense that the students come to high school with a basic understanding with the documents that shape america . Guest some of them do. They have a sense they live in this extraordinary country. Mean . Oes it some kids have a fundamental understanding and other kids have not. I would say students are picking up just what they hear and maybe they come in with assumptions. Our job is to create a space and they can acknowledge admit it is ok if they dont know something. Thats a good starting point to acknowledge they have limitations. Ive them the resources back to twitter, when you are telling it in 140 cap characters is not a long story poorly. The next sentence is the revolution. Not just a soundbite, but what does it all mean and how does it all fit . This was the last election , a polarizing election. How do you teach it in a classroom . Guest i had a unique experience. Class that wead a could engage the president ial election completely it will be great. A lot of times you havent curriculum that has is certain timeframe and you have to keep moving. You have to fit in and allow other topics but this year i was given the opportunity to teach a class solely based on the election. It gave the students a chance to really process through how they think and where they stand on some of the issues and how they understand the history of the presidency and the media. We had a great opportunity. They engaged in very well. I got a firsthand look at being ise to see how a 17 or older taking this all in. Been would happen happened in the course of the would talk what we about. That challenged me as a teacher. It was a challenge for sure. Host also a lesson on the Electoral College . Guest absolutely. It was an interesting contrast where the emotions were so heightened. We had talked about the Electoral College and why we still had it. It was a timely example, this can happen and how do we take the theory and send it in the context of relative. Identify lped us all available on our website, the inauguration of donald trump. What truly matters is not which Party Controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again. The forgotten men and women of our country will be four gotten no longer. Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a Historic Movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that an nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want Great Schools for the children, safe neighborhoods for their families and good jobs for themselves. Reasonableust and demands of righteous people and a righteous public. Many of our citizens a different reality exists. Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities roasted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation and Education System flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge. And the crime and the gangs and toodrugs that have stolen many of us and robbed our country of so much on realized potential. Carnage stops right here, and stops right now. January 20 the inauguration of donald trump. How did this play out . Guest we watched it in realtime. It was a lunch for students who are not actively in class. Students have opinions like s, and embraced some of the popular language of it. Part they were cleaned in. For me somebody who sue take it in the big picture thats interesting a group lead the seminar to the rest of the class. At the end of the school year it what is the grand narrative of the presidency using populist language and how that lays out in the inauguration as well as some of the other campaign rhetoric. , as much as there were some differences in how they interpreted the day they were able to see it in a larger Historical Context which is what we were looking for. Ii, the civilar Rights Movement watergate the impeachment of bill clinton. How do you deal with the current clinical climate in the context of all we have seen in the 20th century . Communicatione of and the fact that news travels so fast and it feels like everything is happening to you. To only heare things that you agree with, and if that is what makes it different. America has always been stronger for the challenges we face the kids feeling unsettled or left out or frustrated that theres no reason to be pessimistic, there is a reason to be optimistic. They are better at channeling the modern tools available than anyone at any time in history, so they have the capacity to create change, and they should view that as an impractical, and it is critical that they talk to other people and expand outside their own confirmation buys narrative to hear other stories, and that they can listen to Something Like the inauguration dispassionately. Maybe listen to it twice, one for the emotion, and one other time. William its not a new discussion. Most teachers would probably say we have been talking about checking sources and making sure you find reliable information along the way. As funny as it sounds, it is actually helpful for us as teachers that this is now a National Dialogue and the word is thrown around, because now students are more hyperaware. I want to make sure im doing things accurately. Anyway, it has given legitimacy to something that i think we have been saying all along, which is you have to make sure that what you say is supported right facts. You cant just go in and make something in on something up on a paper. In some ways, it is nice there is a National Conversation about this, and it has allowed us to say, look how this is playing out around you. We are not just making it up. Steve i know as part of your july fellowship, you got the chance to go to the white house and hear from jim acosta and others in the White House Briefing room. This is during president trumps first news conference. Arent you concerned that you are undermining peoples faith in the first amendment, freedom of the press when you call stories you dont like fake news . Why not just say its a story i dont like . Pres. Trump heres the thing. I understand that you are saying. Youre right, except i know when i should get good and when i should get bad. Sometimes i will say, wow, that is going to be a great story, and i will get killed. I know it is good. I know what is bad. When they change it and make it really bad, something that should be positive, sometimes something that should be positive, they will make ok, or even negative. Because i am there, i know what was said. I know who is saying it. Im there. It is important i want to see on his press. I started off today by saying it is so important to the public to get honest press. The public doesnt believe you people anymore. Maybe i had something to do with that, i dont know. But they dont believe you. If you were straight and really told it like it is, i would hear i would be your biggest booster, your biggest fan in the world, including bad stories about me. But as an example, you are cnn, it is story after story after story that is bad. I won. I won. The other thing, chaos. This is zero chaos. This is a finetuned machine. Half of this job is putting out lies about the president. I said yesterday, this whole russia scam you are building so you dont talk about the real subject which is illegal leaks, but i watched him yesterday working so hard to try and get that story proper. Im saying here is my chief of staff, a really good guy, did a phenomenal job, we won the election, we got some senators, all over the country, hes done a great job. I said to myself, and somebody, take a look at reince priebus, hes working so hard putting out fires that are fake fires. They are fake. They are not true. Steve that was back in february from the white house. As you look at that and teach students, what is your take away . Sushine one of the things that will have a privilege in teaching students is that i did have the opportunity to go to the white house. I can tell students that i was there, and jim acosta popped in to say hi, and it was a copy of, and he was still doing his job. These are not just soundbites. These are real people working really hard to do a job, and there is a difference between what makes headlines and what is actually the story, and we need to, as responsible consumers, separate the news. Lets separate the impulse to just label something in a way that is critical or convenient from what is actually being told quick or convenient from what is actually being told. Everyone in the middle is really trying their best on telling the story, and it might disagree, but they are working hard. I remember how jon stewart used to call his show fake news and that is how it means to me, is on the comedy channel. We will talk about how that can be applied to news on cnn or any other broadcast television. William you brought of social media earlier, this is one of the limitations. It takes very complex issues and brings it down to 140 characters. You cant really cover the complexity of this. These are human beings working hours and hours to make sure they are communicating something they feel strongly about what they feel like they have factual support. Whether that is people in the administration or in the media, i think we forget that humanity side and forget there is complexity to their stories and their worldviews. We fall into these traps of just black and white all the time. Sushine in my class, we always discuss what is our responsibility as consumers contributing to this, that we expect news in realtime . We expect the journalist to, as this is happening, to tweet or put up a new story virtually as a news story virtually as it is happening, and virtually never make mistakes. Are we holding them to unfair standards . Dont ever make a mistake, dont ever contradict yourself, dont ever change your mind as you get more information are we holding these people to a standard they cant reach . And then contributing to that, are we complicit, and can we be more responsible as consumers . Steve lets talk about the polarization in this country, and him and polarization in this country, and a moment that took place on the senate floor, with senator Elizabeth Warren of massachusetts, and this exchange with the Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell on the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be the u. S. Attorney general. Senator warren in 2013, senator sessions voted against reauthorizing the violence against women act, a bill that expanded protections and Services Provided to victims of Sexual Assault and domestic violence. There is a piece from the bedford minuteman that really tells the story of how Sexual Violence impacts massachusetts. This is what it said. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, sons, and brothers, mr. President. The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague. Senator warren said senator sessions has used the often power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens. I called the senator to order under the provision to rule. Senator warren mr. President . I am surprised that the words of Coretta Scott king are not suitable for debate in the u. S. Senate. I asked to continue my remarks. Is there objections . Senator mcconnell i object. Objection is heard. The senator will take her seat. Senator warren i appeal the ruling of the chair. I suggest the absence of a quorum. Senator warren was given a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted. Steve really an incredible moment where politics and process and social media came into play. Sushine absolutely. One of the things bill and i did this summer was to create content to include in the cspan teacher website, and this was one of the moments i chose for my lessons on senate rule 19. 2, which is something i can assure you that in 17 years, my students have never been interested in, until now. Now we have an awareness i have never seen as a teacher in the intricacies of the process among the public as a whole, and it trickles down into the classroom. Remember how i talked about the senate rules and you all kind of mentally snoozed because you didnt think it was important . Lets put it in this context. You saw neverthelessshepersisted. What does that mean . Lets look beyond the hashtag and delve into what it means. What are the underlying questions . Steve and of course, senator Mitch Mcconnell is a master of the senate rules. William yes, and certainly when there is a dynamic when you got to the two large figures in their party, and there is a repartee on using the rules as well as the media around it, you are going to have an inevitable story. Thats what i like sometimes about even the hashtag, even though it is simple, it is a good place to start a dialogue. Students that i never thought would watch an event on capitol hill were coming in the next day and asking to talk about it. I want to know it happened, can you help me understand . They even acknowledge they dont know much, can we dial through this . Can we dialogue through this through this . Highly appreciate that. Steve we always remember where we were on september 11, 2001. Your students were either not born or they were in intent. How do you teach post9 11 politics and Security Issues in this generation . Sushine its very difficult. I was teaching in this time. I had students that did experience this with me. I used video. I go to the archives. I go to news clips and show it. Then we talk and say, imagine what it would feel like to watch this live and not now. I have personal stories from my students that day that i share to help contextualize it. It is difficult, because they dont remember, meeting someone at the gate, do we love each other enough to meet someone at the gate or wait at curbside . So this is definitely a challenge about security, International Threats in the divide of before and after. Steve part of that came with the president s first overseas trip to saudi arabia. President trump every time a terrorist falsely invokes the name of god, it should be an insult to every person of faith. Terrorists do not worship god. They worship death. If we do not act against this organized terror, then we know what will happen and what will be the end result. The devastation of life will continue to spread. Peaceful societies will become engulfed by violence, and the futures of many generations will be sadly squandered. If we do not stand in uniform condemnation of this killing, then not only will we be judged by our people, not only will we be judged by history, but we will be judged by god. This is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life, and decent people, all in the name of religion. Steve bill kamps, you can hear the president outlined his agenda in a post9 11 world, trying to turn a page from barack obama. How do you incorporate that into the classroom . William certainly, we talk a lot about the world post9 11, because so many of the different themes that, been history related to americas appropriate role in the world i think are medically shifted post9 11. In that regard, we talk about what was the Obama Doctrine . What was the bush doctrine . As we see an emerging trump doctrine, what does that look like . How can we be America First in his perspective, but at the same time he takes a hardline stance on the issue of terrorism . How does he intend on balancing those . And letting them explore. What were some of the events they lived through as men that shaped their perspective . Someone living through vietnam will have a different impact on how they want to do policy in combating terrorism. Steve and this generation is living through what is happening in north korea. Here is secretary of state Rex Tillerson in new york at the United Nations earlier this year. Sec. Tillerson with each successive detonation and missile test, north korea pushes northeast asia and the world closer to instability and broader conflict. The threat of a north Korean Nuclear attack on seoul or tokyo is real. It is likely a matter of time before they can strike the u. S. Mainland. They repeatedly claim they plan to do such a strike. Given that rhetoric, the u. S. Cannot idly stand by, nor can other members of this council are within striking distance of north korean missiles. Having for years displayed a pattern of this behavior that defies multiple Security Council resolutions and it roads and erodes global progress on nuclear nonproliferation, theres no reason to think north korea will change this behavior under the current multilateral sanctions framework. For too long, the International Community has been reactive and in addressing north korea. Those days must come to an end. Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences. We have said this before and it bears repeating. The policy of strategic patience is over. Additional patients will only mean acceptance of a nuclear north korea. Steve sunshine, as you look at that, how do you incorporate that to your government students with the issue of terrorism, national security, and threats of north korea . Sushine all of which are so deeply complicated and require an intense commitment to knowledge to delve into. If i go back to your first question about how do we teach government, i think we start there. This is why we need to know what was done before so we can understand how to respond to these situations when they present themselves now. We also talk about, what are our responsibilities as voters . We need that not just have a position, but an informed one. These are people who have access to information we wont have for 30 years. We need to judge them remembering they know more than we know. As well, exploring that if we act, where else do we have to act . What other commitments does that require . That is our instinct as humans, when we see problems, to help. As a voter, what does that mean . The last piece, for the students, their default is to assume all response has to be military. Thats what they see. Thats whats in movies, and video games, the news. What are the economic options . What are the political options . Where is it our responsibility to go . To get them to think through that approach. Are there parallels to vietnam in terms of how we have shaped their foreignpolicy . Could you hear part of that in tillerson . The are parallels, there are parallels, starting with the fact that korea, foreign politics for more than a generation now certainly again, there is this question of do we want to be aggressive . Want to what the world that youre not know that we are not backing down. How do you bring americans into a conflict where there is no pearl harbor moment, no 9 11 moment . For americans, there is almost we will react, but he is asking for some level of proaction. That is a harder thing historically for americans to show that they are willing to be. As a president at the start of a new administration tries to do Something Different from their predecessor. Is it different with this president . It feels different. In does it feel different because it is different or does it feel different because we see it . Kids are directly communicating with us on twitter. Do you think that is a good or bad thing . They have grown up always with antibullying and do not name call. To them, they would not talk like that. I think they do like being able to hear this unfiltered perspective. One of the lessons that i wrote last week, is twitter the new fireside chat . He was able to say i want to directly talk to the American People in their homes, about the crisis going on. These of the new waters we are swimming in. It does not matter if you like it or not. If this is the reality, what will the next president do . This is the new normal, what is the next step . Reaction to Vice President mike pence responding as he outlines the agenda. The president has taken Decisive Action to make this country great again. President trump told you that he will battle for every american who has lost a job, every family who has lost a loved one, every american who has lost their rights and freedom. That is exactly what he has done. Our president has been busy. This president has signed more bills into law, rolling back federal regulations and red tape than any president in american history. [applause] he is unleashing American Energy and unburdening american businesses. He is putting americans back to work and is working fighting every day to put America First. President donald trump pulled the United States out of the paris climate accord. [applause] in[applause] amazing to think the and a nail the International Deal would have cost 6 million jobs in the next 25 years and put incredible burdens on the American People while allowing countries like china and india to get off scott free. In his decision, he put American Workers first. He put americas future first. I promise that President Donald Trump will always put America First. [applause] Vice President mike pence and we are here with our High School Teachers. One teaches government and the other teaches history. The fundamental question, what is the role of the federal government . You can use what you heard from Vice President about what the government should do. That frames almost everything we talk about. Everything we talk about in the context of policy and your position on it comes back to you. What should the role of any government the in particular to the federal government . Do we agree with this and why are why not . It affords an opportunity to differentiate politics and policy. It is one thing to say you will do something. It is one thing to leak that you might be proposing a bill. For everyone to get up in arms and crazy about it, it is another thing to have a bill go through. What is the role and what gets done . Where should we be freaking out, if someone thinks that is not a good idea . Did you two know each other before you joined the program . No, not at all. We work really well together. We have collaborated on a couple lessons. Definitely a wheelhouse of coming up with creative extension activities for teachers. We laid out the lesson, we have some of the questions. This is how we can take it further. She is a master of that. He is the king of incisive questions. What is a good question . In regards to what you are talking about the role of government. Among them to ask the question, where has that role of government changed over the course of the 20th century . How have americans based on the things they lived through, how is the answer that question . Letting them understand that someone in these sets of circumstances might have a different opinion on government the my circumstances and 2017. Your you are in new jersey and you are in california. Have you compared details on students . We have chatted about it. The answer to that question is the same as the answer to the, is there differences between us and the Founding Fathers . Our kids have different experiences that shape their behaviors. They are very similar. This generation is extraordinary. It is such a gift to spend time in california, new jersey, and anywhere else in the country. You have been teaching for 17 years. How about you . 15. I think part of it is social media. The access to new has been much more news has been more a gala terrien, that it is more accessible to them that way. They are interested. In those students were like, i have opinions and ideas. I want to do something with this. Where can i go . What can i do to be engaged . We have raised awareness and the events of the last year. So what do we do with that . How to we take that energy stored up and put it towards something that is productive . Do deal with the political rhetoric versus little reality political reality . Absolutely. Kids are getting news differently. Most are getting it through their phone. They decide whether to click or not click. Pause before you retweet and paz pause before you click. Am i being targeted or is this something i care about . The mostwatched hearings is the director who testified on capitol hill on june 8. It is on our video library. Our website for teachers at cspan. Org classrooms. Here is senator jack reed, democrat of rhode island. The russia investigation, as you pointed out, as all my colleagues have reflected, is one of the most serious, hostile acts, undermining the very core of our democracy and elections. It is not a discrete event. As it will likely be prepared for 2018 and beyond. The president of the United States fired you because, in your own words, some relation to this investigation. Then he shows up in the oval office and classified u. S. Crazy and a nut job. You disproved that this morning. Your conclusion would be that the president is downplaying the seriousness of this threat. In fact, took specific steps to stop a federal investigation of the Russian Investigation of russian influence. From what you said this morning, it does not seem to particularly interest him about the hostile threats from the russians area russians. I do not know if i can agree to the level of detail. There is no doubt that it is a fair judgment, my judgment, that i was fired because of the Russian Investigation. I was fired some way to change the way the Russian Investigation was being conducted. That is a very big deal, not just because it involves me, the fbi and nature of its work required that it not be the subject of political considerations. On top of that you have the russia investigation and self is self, if any americans were part of helping the russians do that to us that is a very big deal. I am confident that if that is the case director mueller find the evidence. Do you translate that moment in history and earlier this year as he testified, he is now writing a book, turn that into a lesson plan . About thats an example this came out around the time we were wrapping up nixon watergate discussion. There was a lot of Media Outlets that were saying the firing of a saturday night massacre . Vocabulary of pres and , i sent this is a word, this is a. We have to make sure you are saying here is the firing of the. Bi director how similar is it to archibald caulks cox . The Media Outlets were engaging in a question. No, this is a different. Ituation letting students sit through their opinions. Host what were your students telling you . They were hung up on how director comey found out. He was on the other side of the country, he thought it was a joke at first. It was a reflection on who they are. For us it led itself to the discussion we have is what is the different difference between can and should. We talked about the world of government and the powers of government. The difference in between politics and policy, reality and what is expected are some wonderful questions. My government class was at the bidding of the day so it was ideal for us, throw out your lesson plan and say last year on this day we might have talked about Something Else but today we have cspan. Host we saw that play out last year after publicans block a inination of Merrick Garland the passing of antonin scalia. Neil gorsuch now sits on the Supreme Court. We talk about Senate Confirmation hearings and that is not something that is as someone Senate Confirmation hearings make it very irrelevant. Questions, heres why we have to hear about the rules. And who controls these things at what they do. Guest when president clinton nominated stephen i nominated to confirm. I thought it was the right thing to do after all he won the election. He was the president. The president gets to appoint Supreme Court justices. Nominateddent obama i were to make sure they got it up or down vote and not a filibuster. Our democratic friends are today , no filibuster. We thought it was the right thing to do. Because we harbored an illusion that we usually agree , listen tonominees this man a president we even protested with when read tried to file closure on the kagan nomination. Sessions was the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee at the time. The pretensen want of the possibility of a filibuster on the table. It is a different story from a we are seeing today. This is where our democratic colleagues have taken us. Partisan minority of the senate really prevent the senate the bipartisan majority . Will they suggest a qualified americans will be watching. History will be watching. And the future of the senate will hang on their choice. Neil gorsuch did finally get can firm. Confirm. He did not mention what happened last year. No he didnt get into Merrick Garlands nomination ring held off for most of the year, trying to prevent obama from feeling that seat. Iat is one of the events that didnt overstate. Duringa historic event the last year of the presidency. It was a good moment to let them understand how partisan, that this was a process in history. This really stalled out in the name of partisanship. If donald trump has a nomination in 2020 with the democrats controlling the senate hypothetically you would worry about political payback. You could argue that harry reid low lowering the you are gambling on a republican winning the sidency which at that time i cant imagine there would be a consistent as they going along for judges. Guest do you leave that Washington Matters in the following, do have a sense that it matters . Guest thats a hard statement to generalize with students. For some they are all in. They are political junkies and will follow stories and events. They are worried about what theyre going to eat that day. It is a direct connection on immigration i have an ethnically Diverse School that i teach at. Where studentsts come in with a different set of things that they are thinking about during the course of the day. Thinking about responsibilities regard,y have, in that there is often a disconnect. We try our best to make that connection for them, but lifes realities come into play. Thats our job, to explain to them why it does matter. Thats our job, to explain to them why it does matter. You think congress doesnt look like you, you dont realize how voiceant it is for your in the decisions. Of studentsk a lot understand that issue. Not only should they understand the game but they have to add their voice to the narrative to get a government that reflects their interests. Guest the Health Care Debate is something that affects americans one way or another. Senator bernie sanders. I know that no republican wants to see anybody die, none of us do. But that is the reality that we have and you cannot ignore it. If somebody has cancer, if somebody has Heart Disease and you take away their Health Insurance i dont need somebody from Harvard University to tell you what you know will be the case. We can do better than that. Mr. President i would ask unanimous consent that the article that appears today be submitted to the record. Without objection. Thank you. Mr. President this issue is not just about health care. Profound moral debate defining who we are as a people today and who we want to be as a people in the future. President , a great nation is not simply judged by how many millionaires and billion as we we cany how many give to billionaires. By how we treat the weakest and the most vulnerable among us. Those people who dont have fundraising dinners, dont contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars into the political coffers. A great nation is judged by how we treat the children, the elderly, the sick, the poor and the people on disability. This legislation is not worthy of a great nation. From the senate floor and one voice out of many. It has consumed washington in the country. Guest it plays out in the classroom all day long when the day the house voted on the bill and them came to me said do i do . I think for people with this weue the is so real so have to talk about what do you do . What are your responsibilities . Dont get cynical. The special interests cannot vote. We cant. You have to be informed. Consent is more compelling. Be,ever that opinion might if you support it, or you dont you like your voices be heard. Teach high school where i 20 of our students we have a significant a significant number of students with collegeeducated parents. It is a fairly mixed group. Guest and your daughter will be in high school this fall. We have 1500 students and are a center of the nation in a sense. They speak multiple languages over backgrounds. We always say that they talk the unitedrends of states, and i say you are with the country will be looking like in the next few years. , that includes economic diversity. Host how do you approach her classroom engagement with so many coming from outside the u. S. . Our school has taken steps to push that we as teachers need to be very cognizant of the english looking toarners, get more teachers certified. We need to be to understand be teaching the same way we were taught. Our needs are changing and we need to be able to adopt. It is a challenge that is important if you want to do this well. Congressman tom macarthur, a republican held a town meeting. This is where politics and policy and engagement comes together. Lets watch and get a reaction. [video clip] are not children. We are seriously concerned with ourselves and everyone around us. We are the future and we are going to go. I would like to go back to a question that my friend joey asked you and you neglected to answer. Is race considered preexisting condition under your amendment . [applause] yes or no . One word, please . You get to ask the questions and i get to answer them. This statistic is that one five be rate right in four entering college. How can you say that and not answer me why if race is a great conditioned . My friends and i complain plan to continue getting involved. You are our representative to we are voting against you. You will answer to us. I will answer the question if you let me. I have given you multiple pauses, but nothing. It is possible there is somebody who has been subject to rape in this room. It is possible. Not reduce that to calling it a preexisting condition. But your bill will. Know my bill will not. ,f you listen to what i said you cannot be denied or charged for or because of having been raped. Is congressman mccarthy of new jersey. It was a five hour town hall meeting. Hoping to get there. Host when you watch it, what is your take away . Will come in and have either anger or frustration. The questions. And they are looking for an outlet. For many of them, they had no they have a voice and they can get involved. Person tost be a complain about this on the internet and not step in and do something. I have a great group i talk in taught in my humanities class and they were wonderful. I have students that will go into one of them wants to be a civil rights attorney. They have to drive and they have the desire, they just need the resource materials and the right direction to go and be engaged. It is awesome to watch. Host what was your path to becoming a High School Teacher . I teach at the high school i attended. I double majored in Political Science and u. S. History. I have always loved the social sciences. I thought i wanted to teach, but i wanted to do something before. It never left me what an impact my teachers had on me. They made me see i was capable of more. For me, it was a chance to give back and pay it forward, which is exactly what my teachers what have wanted me to do. They would want me to play that role for someone else. The kids at the town halls and creating change our incredible. Stories isin those in a stored mary gift and i would not do anything else. Host and for you . Guest i had a High School Counselor who i never had a close relationship but every time we would meet, she would greatwould make a teacher. I never gave it much. I appreciate there were teachers in my life along the way who were able to see something in me that i had the gift for this. Its not something everyone can do, interact with High Schoolers and commit to them and want to bring out the best in them. Some of the saw that in me and i think i am simply trying to do that with my students, try to speak the things that are important. About theirjust place in history, but who they are as individuals. I say yes, you have the ability to be successful at something and speak that into their lives because there is nobody who is doing it, and that is a great privilege we have as teachers to be able to be the people on top of that and can push them in that direction. Host let me conclude with this point, what have you learned this summer . What are your plans when you start back to school . How do you plan to incorporate what we do here into the classroom . Guest i have learned every day to delve in further. I have used cspan resources before but to come in and seymour is great. Im going i thought to do a lesson, cspan has a clip for that that has been really extraordinary. I have learned a lot watching the way people interact and the philosophy of cspan. It has been a teachable moment for me that i can translate into my classroom and going back and use the stuff i created. I will definitely use it. I look forward to future conferences to engage with educators. Guest i would say, selfishly, i think a lot of the lessons i created with things that i know i would use. I am being encouraged to develop lessons people would use. I know a lot of them are things i have full intention of incorporating. I do appreciate having the really take innd the material that cspan has to offer. It has been helpful to know their really is a wide array of ways we can use this material. The other thing i am hoping to pick up in the fall is another new collective called the active citizen and give the law since a chance to get involved in their community and do Service Oriented stuff. I will certainly be sharing my experience here and sharing the different stories i have met along the way. Again, there are a lot of different ways you can be involved and engaged and it does not always have to be running for congress. There is a wide group of people who are finding ways to make a difference and be engaged therens and let them know are other options. High School Teacher host High School Teachers, both of you thank you for being with us. A reminder, you can check out all of our information at cspan. Org classroom. If you are teacher of social studies and it civics to middle and High School Students, try our classroom resources at the cspan classroom website. There are ready to go resources including current event deals, lesson plans and handouts come also enhanced teaching tools to engage her students in discussions with new content added regularly. Many teachers across the country use these resources. It should try it too. It is free, quick him an easy. Go to cspan. Org classroom to sign up. A quick look at the isional book special that from the Washington Convention center. Right now is Sidney Blumenthal former adviser to clinton on the second volume of his political biography of president abraham lincoln. There will be more interviews and the speakers throughout the day, and youll have a chance to authors question spent all that happening live on cspan two. Go to book tv. Org for the full schedule. Live sunday at noon eastern, author, speaker, and radio coast is our guest on book tvs in depth. America is not defined by ethnic city. Every ethnicity exists in america. It is not find i religion. Every religion exists in america. We are defined by an idea and the only country in the world was defined by an idea. Therefore, in order to keep the republic as franklin enjoined us to do, we must know those ideas and we must understand those ideas, we must buy into those ideas and we must live them out. His books include books on William Wilberforce and his latest, if you thank you for, the forgotten promise of american liberty. Join our live