Civics Bus wows Naperville students

Dozens of Indian Prairie Unit District 204 middle and high school students received a brief civics lesson Friday aboard C-SPAN's Civics Bus.

The bus is on the road as part of its "100 Days, 100 Schools" tour. The 45-foot mobile production studio and demonstration center stopped at Hill Middle School and Neuqua Valley High School as part of a plan to visit 100 schools during the first 100 days of the new presidential administration, traveling from Florida to Washington state.

For those keeping count, Hill is school number 91 and Neuqua Valley High School is number 92 on the tour.

On board the bus, students were quizzed on their knowledge of the branches of federal government, the process of a bill becoming a law and other civics issues they've studied. Republican State Rep. Darlene Senger of Naperville also was aboard, discussing the early days of her first term in Springfield.

Students and teachers toured the bus during the visit and learned about C-SPAN programming.

The bus, worth an estimated $1 million, has three TV cameras - 2 robotically controlled and 1 hand-held unit for off-bus interviews and video shoots. The rear of the vehicle also doubles as a state-of-the-art television production studio for those quick, on the go, interviews.

Self-described "C-SPAN junkie" and Hill teacher Ralph Mason said he was excited for his students to see and learn about government in action from the channel that carries it around the clock.

"We're studying the Constitution and the amendments so I'm sure we'll use some of the resources from the bus as we move forward," Mason said. "But this is really cool because I'm a hands-on teacher so I like when the students get to interact with what we're studying."

To visit the bus, some students wrote essays for extra credit, stating why they should be picked to tour the bus. Others were selected from a hat.

"Adults watch C-SPAN so I didn't really know what they covered but now I know how they're helping kids learn about government," said Meredith Seidel, 14, of Naperville.

Sahar Alnuaimi, 14, also from Naperville, said she learned how to surf the channel's Web site and use other resources she thinks will help her as she continues to study government.

"This was cool and helpful at the same time," she said.