Youngstown teacher attends C-SPAN educators conference
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NILES -- It's been proven that power is in numbers, but that observation also leaves lots of wiggle room for other things such as pride, excitement and a liberal helping of humbleness for Kayla McCann.
"I had a friend who teaches in the district in the area who was at last year's conference. I filled out the application, questionnaire and did the essays, and one month later, I got an email saying I was invited to attend," McCann, of Niles, said Thursday.
McCann, a Youngstown High School social studies teacher, was referring to having been selected to participate in C-SPAN's summer educators conference July 27 to 29 in Washington, D.C. She was one of only 31 high school and middle school educators nationwide who were chosen to take part in the gathering.
"I felt I didn't have a chance, but I was humbled and excited," McCann said
The conference featured hundreds of thousands of resources that can be used in the classroom, and to McCann, a highly redeeming aspect of the offerings was that they can be edited, clipped or modified to fit her specific curriculum so that it better aligns with what is needed for her students, she explained.
More specifically, the conference let the participants explore free digital resources via C-SPAN Classroom. Those included On this Day in History features, current events videos, general lesson plans and StudentCam, the network's yearly documentary competition for students in grades six to 12.
McCann, who has taught five years in the Youngstown City School District and will teach grades nine to 12 this school year, said she has used certain C-SPAN-produced lessons for her students, especially those pertaining to the 2024 general election. Beginning this school year, her plan is to incorporate additional such resources into her lesson plans as the Nov. 3 midterm elections loom closer, McCann said.
That decision corresponds to the fact that many of her students will be of voting age, so it's imperative that they are informed, she said.
"You are the future voters, you are the future leaders, and you need to get involved and have a voice," McCann said about her students.
The conference's final day allowed the educators to present to the others something C-SPAN-related that they plan to use in their classrooms. It also gave them time to share their ideas with one another, she noted.
McCann, a 2005 Niles McKinley High School and Trumbull Career & Technical Center graduate, said she gleaned ideas from several cohorts at the conference, including a Boston teacher who also is an historical reenactor, as well as a Louisiana educator and influencer who has a propensity for sharing videos regarding "how to dress up lessons."
Nevertheless, C-SPAN personnel did not restrict their time with the teachers to the conference room. They also took the educators to the National Archives Museum and to a Washington Nationals baseball game, McCann said.
While at the museum, she was taken aback to see key founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta, the royal charter of rights that King John of England sealed June 15, 1215, at Runnymede. The latter document later laid the groundwork for modern democracy and individual liberty.
McCann also thanked Zach Lowe, a C-SPAN education resource specialist; Pamela McGorry, a specialist for educational programs; and Craig McAndrew, C-SPAN's director of education relations, for their guidance and the roles they played in the conference.
"They were awesome people," McCann said.
A panel of C-SPAN representatives chose the participants via a competitive application process. Part of that entailed their commitment to exploring innovative educational resources, then implementing them into their classroom instruction, as well as their willingness to share their professional development experiences with their colleagues and larger academic communities.
"This conference provides a collaborative space for teachers to discover practical resources, exchange ideas and gain new strategies they can immediately implement in their classrooms. As former educators, our team values the opportunity to learn alongside the participants and support their efforts to create meaningful learning experiences," McAndrew said late last month.
Before launching her teaching career, McCann, who earned a bachelor's degree from Youngstown State University in social studies education and minored in sociology, was in the healthcare field and worked at an assisted-living facility.
She also wasn't shy in expressing her desire to spread what she gleaned from the transformational C-SPAN conference last month.
"I saw an opportunity and went after it," McCann said, adding, "I'm absorbing what I learned and I'm ready to share it."